Forget Your Earth
by Veilrony
Summary: AU Where Rose decided to back down instead of starting a huge rebellion over Earth. Five thousand years later, Rose takes a mental break on Earth, as things have gotten more stressing on Homeworld, and a young human named Greg is tasked to serve her for her stay.
1. Prologue

Pearl knew she shouldn't have been eavesdropping. She clasped her hands against the metal door, her ears seemingly glued to it.

She exhaled quietly, closing her eyes. She knew how much Rose cared about the planet and its inhabitants, though she couldn't see why. There were lots of planets with functioning kindergartens on them that once had other life forms on it. What was so different on Earth?

"Pink Diamond, we need to look at this rationally. The Geode System —"

"Empty words," Rose said. "We can send a red-eye into them. You _know_ I'm the only Gem with light cannons."

"That doesn't matter!" Blue Diamond shouted, and Pearl imagined her literally flying up from her seat. "You know that Cinnabar's been developing weapons!"

"I have to say I'm on Pink's side here, Lazuli… Cinnabar is under an agreement," Yellow Diamond said.

"Look how far that's gotten us," Blue huffed. "Pink, look at it like this. Cinnabar's going to use those weapons. Not might. Will. We need to destroy the system, and Quartzes are the only way to safely go about it."

There was a silence, Pearl hearing only Rose's soft, exasperated sigh. She twisted her hair, waiting for what was going to happen next. Rose was going to win. She'd throw up an argument that win her the debate, and her irrational love for the Crystal system would be understood, and agreed on. She just waited.

It felt like moments before it wasn't Rose, the Pink Diamond, but White Diamond, the leader of Homeworld. "I think that Blue is right. We should take Cinnabar's threats as real. It would be… almost traitorous not to," White diamond continued.

Pearl shuddered, her teeth baring. They couldn't be insinuating…

Silence again. Pearl's shoulders tensed until she could have sworn she was reeling into them. They could take away her diamond title. Would she… would she risk it?

"Fine then," Rose said. "I was just hoping we could spare such a… vibrant planet…"

"In times like these, Pink Diamond, we need all the gems we can get, even if we have to sacrifice what we want." There was a pause, before White snapped, "No, Yellow, stuffing shattered gems into Charmelan's core to destroy the planet is costly and too experimental." She paused again. "No."

Pearl inched away from the door. The meeting would end at any minute. She slowly walked down the corridor until she was at a short distance from the door. She started walking towards the door to make it look like she was just getting around to it. A vapid, average pearl looking for her mistress.

She barely made out the words, "Meeting dismissed," and started giving her stride a dancing look to it. She glanced around, trying to loosen her shoulders. She put a smile on her face and threw the lock of hair she had been twirling behind her ears. She almost felt like she could've been a perfect Pearl.

The door swung open, and Pearl stood calmly and politely as three gems filed out. First, Yellow diamond, a Titanite with two forward-aimed points sticking out of the back of her head. Her cat-like eyes glanced over Pearl once before sniffing with disinterest. Pearl wilted only a bit. Next was Blue Diamond, one of the few Lapis Lazuli gems there really were. She had to look up to see Pearl, and lingered a few moments. Pearl noticed the small points of water hanging off of her back, ready to become wings at any given moment. She smiled more forcefully. "Is Pink Diamond coming out yet?" she asked briskly.

Lapis gave a blink and flicked her head behind her before stalking off in the opposite direction of Yellow.

Rose walked through the doorway slowly, giving a forlorn glance behind the door. "They wouldn't understand," she said quietly before turning to Pearl.

Pearl stood up taller and smiled hard enough she felt that her cheeks were going to fall off. "So," she said slowly, "Did the meeting go well?" She swayed her hips, her long, veil-like skirt falling along with her.

Rose gave a smile, a real one. Pearl couldn't help but notice her eyes twinkle like they had stars in them. She laughed and patted Pearl's shoulder like she would a friend. Pearl brightened a bit. "Not really," she said. "I guess you would know that."

Pearl jumped back, surprised. Rose's smile faltered. "I'm serious, Pearl. This could get you harvested, or worse."

Pearl's heart sank to her stomach at the thought of it, and she felt her smile loosen.

"I would never do that to you, but you have to be careful. They might force you to become a kindergarten worker on Earth or worse," she said and then sighed. "Just… Be careful, okay? I have to do some things." She started walking off, her large hand leaving Pearl's shoulder. She turned around, her dress swinging with her. "Meet me in our quarters." She gave a smile and turned away to continue walking in the direction Lapis had went in.

Pearl turned to see that nobody was around before sighing and loosening her shoulders and face. She narrowed her eyes a bit. There. She then leaned against the wall, and imagined what sort of hell her life could've ended in if Rose had been demoted.


	2. Chapter 1

"Rose Quartz, the Pink Diamond," Rose whispered to herself as she eyed her reflection in a mirror. "The new leader of Homeworld," she continued, her voice faltering at the final word. She couldn't imagine how White Diamond could've been shattered. She was never away from her quarters as of late. Nobody could figure out who did it. It certainly couldn't have been the gems in the Geode system's rebellions. The synthetically made Quartzes had proven to be more effective than whatever Charmelan's defenses were.

Rose felt a bit of relief at that. It was only when the first of the Quartzes emerged that Cinnabar started using her weapons. The new Gems took care of that all too easily.

And now, the Earth was back to normal. She couldn't remember how she reacted, but Blue was always throwing playful jokes at how she might as well have been an angry Tiger's Eye.

Speaking of which… Where was that Gem? She got up from her bed and brushed her dress down. She leaned back, stretching to the side. Pearl was no-where to be seen. Probably in her quarters. Probably revelling in the fact that she even got her own room.

She pressed her left hand to the door, making it slide open. She stepped through it and pressed her hand once more on a pad outside of it. It closed again, pneumatics sealing the passage. She sighed and started walking. Windows passed by, showing off the Crystal System. She turned towards the control room. With a glance behind her, she noticed the ancient imprints in the ship's carbonite floor, like they'd been walked on for a thousand years.

When she got to the control room, there were two gems, but not the ones she was expecting. Pearl and the Peridot she got to pilot her ship were heatedly debating over… something.

"Well if you ask me, I think you should keep your hands off the controls — Hey!" the Peridot shouted, using her robotic limbs to slap Pearl's hands out of the way.

"You haven't got them calibrated. Look. The entire ship is tilting to the right. You'll never pull this thing to the System in time. At best, you'll crash into Mars." Pearl raised her brows and glared down at the green gem.

"What do you know?" she growled before turning to Rose. "Oh! Pink Diamond!" She bent her knees into a rushed curtsy. "Your _Pearl_ is meddling with the controls."

Rose cast a glance at Pearl. Impressive, she was. She hid her smile and put on a false stare. "Pearl. To your quarters."

Pearl nodded, pulling her hair back. She cast a glare back at the Peridot before glising down the floor. Rose ruffled the hair on her head before sending ehr on her way.

"Have you ever thought of that Pearl as… defective?" the deceptively tall gem said.

Rose stiffened. "Why would you ask?"

"She's overzealous, even for a Pearl," she said, reaching blindly for a tool at her left.

Rose bit her bottom lip, thinking of Pearl. "She might just be more intelligent from age. Six thousand years is a long time to have one."

"Have you ever thought of having her harvested?" the gem asked, pulling her visor down as she grabbed the tool. "To get a better one?"

Rose's eyes widened, but she straightened her face immediately. "Where's Tiger's Eye?" she asked, glancing around the control room.

"In her quarters," the Peridot said, putting her hands into the controls. Lines of code reflected in her eyes. "I can't exactly stop a massive Quartz from stalking off like well, a tiger."

Rose blinked. Of course she couldn't. Peridots probably couldn't stop a brand-new Sapphire. Not that she'd say it in front of the Sapphire on the crew.

Rose glared, then turned around and left. She stalked down the halls, headed back the way she came. She passed the door to her room without even giving it a second glance. There Pearl was, giving away that she was defective. She was lucky that it was just a Peridot that noticed. If one of her fellow diamonds caught wind, then Pearl would be gone for good.

She stepped into a short corridor with two rooms on each side. It didn't end in a dead end, but in a room with a fireplace and comfortable enough cushions on the floor. She glanced in there before seeing the escort gem. "Tiger's Eye," Rose said coldly. The gem turned around, her figure seemingly glowing in front of the firelight.

"Yes, Pink Diamond?" Her voice was smooth, for a Quartz at least. "Is something wrong?"

Rose narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. How could she be so oblivious? "You know exactly what's wrong. You're here, lounging about, while your crewmate is left both piloting _and_ doing mantenance?"

She glanced down at her feet then at Rose's face. "I—"

"Just go, before I have you harvested." Rose waited for Tiger's Eye to pass by before following her out. She knocked on Pearl's door, waiting for it to open.

It took a few minutes before she showed up, her clothes in perfect order. "Pink Diamond," she said. "Come in!"

The door closed, and Pearl gave a sigh. "Thank the stars it's only you," she said, sitting down on a cushion. Her legs splayed out and she rested her arms on the pillow. "I thought it'd be that awful Peridot. She's so…" She clenched her hand into a fist. "Sorry, Rose."

"No, it's alright," Rose said, sitting down beside her. "But you need to be more careful. That Peridot thinks you're defective." When she saw Pearl's shoulders tighten, Rose grinned and leaned in next to her. "I told her that you're just getting smart with age."

Pearl sighed and leaned back on the cushion. "I guess I should…"

Rose nodded. "It's alright. This is Earth we're headed to, not Homeworld. There aren't many civilized Gems on the colony. That's why the others are sending me this way. So I can lead securely."

Pearl heaved a sigh. "They probably still have Pearls on Earth. I'll still have to be… that."

"They've got humans on Earth, Pearl. Remember the creatures I actually wanted to lose my title over?" She laughed, and she saw Pearl crack a faint smile.

"Yeah," she said wistfully.

"And on Earth, even the Pearls can have humans." Rose didn't know this, but she wanted to alleviate at least some of Pearl's anxiety.

At that, Pearl sat up. She blinked and then turned to Rose. "I… don't know how to…"

Rose laughed. "Act like that around other Gems. They'd never think you're above average."

"No, really."

Rose stared, her cheeks curling upwards. She planted a kiss on Pearl's gem. "Well, you have to feed them, water them, and let them grow."

"Like one of your plants, huh?" Pearl said, rubbing the gem on her forehead tenderly.

"Exactly like that."

Pearl laughed nervously. "It's probably not that simple."

"Oh, but it is." Rose stood up and grabbed Pearl's hand. Pearl got to her feet and stared into Rose's eyes. Rose stared back, her eyes shining. "If you can take care of that Peridot back there, then I'm sure a human isn't a hassle."

She backed away, hand still extended. "Come with me, Pearl. And try being yourself as we go out."

"But the other gems…"

"The Sapphire's not anywhere around here and the others are all in the control room." She grabbed Pearl's hand and pulled her closer. "Come on, let's try it."

Pearl flushed, her cheeks turning blue. "Alright." She strode down the halls, faster than Rose. She glanced about the halls, her eyes flickering about. Rose watched her glance up and down at the slits between metal, how she paused and narrowed her eyes.

"They could certainly find _something_ to patch up these cracks," she whispered. She stood up on her toes, tracing her fingers along a crack in the ceiling. "The vacuum of space can only make them bigger. Then the ship'll get destroyed…"

Rose found herself getting more and more amused by Pearl's investigations. At least, until she caught Pearl giving a backwards glance at her, like she was checking to see if Rose was happy with the way she was acting. Rose's heart sunk a bit, her smile fading.

"Pearl, look," she said, stopping at a window on the outer side of the hall. Earth was coming towards them at a rapid pace. "Earth's a safe place, a haven perhaps. You'll be safe, I'll be safe, and I wouldn't let them harvest you, even if you are defective. Just relax."

Pearl stared at Rose, giving an owlish blink. She nodded and stared down at her feet. "I understand…" She looked around, and her shoulders loosened. Still, she said, "Pink Diamond."

Rose inched closer to Pearl. "We'll be alright. Just you wait." She paused a second. "Just you wait."


	3. Chapter 2

Greg woke up immediately when he felt a pair of hands on his back. He swung around, ready to land a punch at the intruder. His hand was grabbed and held steady.

"Calm down, Greg. It's just me." A familiar face greeted him. Marty. He smiled upon seeing his extremely pale features.

Greg felt a weight lift off his chest and he heaved a sigh. "I thought you were Heliotrope, or some other Gem," he said.

Marty sat down on the bed next to Greg. "About that…"

Greg stiffened. "What do you mean, about that? I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"Relax, Universe," Marty said, slapping him on the back. "She says that there's something she needs you to do." He got up and helped Greg to his feet. "And if I were you, I'd start hippity hoppitting you and your little lion's mane over there as fast as you can," he said.

Greg narrowed his eyes at Marty. "You don't need to make hair jokes right now, do you?" he said dryly, but was already reaching for a jumpsuit hanging on a rack. He slipped the brown garment on effortlessly. "And where is she?" Greg asked.

"In her office. God knows she never leaves it." Marty slapped Greg on the back. "Now head out!"

Greg nodded, feeling his chest tighten. He sighed and turned back to Marty. To relieve some of his thoughts, he gave a small salute to Marty before an awkward, terrified laugh.

Marty raised his brows quickly to motion that he really should be going. Marty was right, of course. It never paid to anger a Gem, and Heliotrope was no exception.

He ran through a cafeteria, where more humans, those who'd been working at ports and stations all night, ate in silence. Marty's son, streaked with dirt, poked at his daily rations. His mother watched the other end of the cafeteria blankly, paying no attention to the child. Greg stared for a second before shaking his head and keeping on walking.

Still, he was barely three. He shouldn't have been working at this age.

Heliotrope's office came into view quickly and Greg stopped a few feet before the frame. He sighed and glanced at the bright diamond insignia casting a light from the door's centre.

He pulled a few strands of his dark hair behind his head and knocked. "Come in," was the response after a few seconds.

Greg stood up tall and opened the door slowly. He closed it and stared at the gem in front of him. She had dark green skin with bright red patches up and down her arms. Greg knew he was tall, at least for a human, but could never get used to the fact Heliotrope was nearly nine feet tall. It showed, as she had to hunch her back over her desk. It made her look still taller.

"You wanted to see me?" Greg asked, voice strained.

"You have an assignment," she said, raising a brow. "I'm sure one of your… _friends_ … has told you this." Her face strained at the word friends, like she never said it before. Figured. "An important Gem is coming to Earth in about an hour."

Greg cringed before composing himself. He struggled to keep still. The more important a gem was on Homeworld, the colder and more abusive they got. The most important Gem Greg ever had to serve was an Emerald technician, and even then she used him like a ragdoll.

"She'll be under a lot of stress, due to recent events." She made a diamond signal with her fingers and put them on her chest. She sighed. "And you seem to be the most of a pushover. You'll be taking care of her for her stay."

"What port is she coming in from?"

"Cygnus. Now…" She hunched over and pushed her chair back to look into her drawers. She pulled out two garments and put them on the desk so Greg could inspect him. "She's going to pay a good sum for her stay, so it's my duty to provide presentable slaves." It was a black shirt and pants, with diamonds on the shoulders. Tiny stripes shimmered over the chest area in a tone a small bit lighter than the shirt. "Go back to your bunker and put this on. I'll send my Pearl in fifteen minutes. Understood?"

Greg nodded, pursing his lips. "Got it."

The Pearl was there early, waiting in the doorway. And smiling. The gem on her chest was brightly polished. She had a jumpsuit like Greg's normal outfit. It was simple, only decorated with a yellow diamond and frills on her hips. "Gregory, it is?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's me," he said. "You're Heliotrope's Pearl, I guess."

"Yep! She asked me to come for you. Walk quickly now, your new mistress might not be too happy being kept waiting," she said sprightly, turning around and starting her walk.

Greg loathed that Pearls were a slave race among gems, vapid and brainless as they were. What he loathed more was that humans were below even them.

"I'm surprised she only got you, you know. Didgya know that she can command ten — no — ten thousand humans at once?" She stopped, definitely remembering she was talking to one of the _humans_ and instead decided to talk about something else about Heliotrope.

"She's the most powerful Quartz I've ever met. Might be even more powerful than whoever's taking you in for the next little while." She kept talking on and on about Heliotrope, Greg starting to tune out her stupid babbling.

"Here we are," she said, stopping at the door to the outside. "Now remember, when you get there, you'll be—"

"Yes, yes, I know. Bathed and readied," Greg interrupted. The Pearl stepped back and blinked at his rudeness, but recomposed herself and put her grin back on. He grinned internally. Pearls didn't have a weapon they could summon, and obviously no training with them. Not to mention nobody would ever listen to them. Even if he was below her, she had no way of saying whether or not Greg acted just that bit more. He straightened his posture, finding himself a few inches taller than Pearl. "Now keep walking," he said. "We wouldn't want to keep her waiting." Sarcasm dripping off his voice, he decided to walk a bit faster.

They boarded a hovercraft, Heliotrope's Pearl taking the driver's seat and Greg climbing in the seat behind her. As soon as Greg closed the door, the Pearl accelerated the vehicle immediately. Greg gripped the seats so he didn't fall off. "Slow… down…" he said, gritting his teeth. He looked back at Heliotrope's base, flying away at whatever speed the hover was going. The Pearl didn't respond. Greg heaved a sigh and decided just to hold on for dear life.

"You've never been in a hover before, have you?" she asked, nearly having to shout over the whir of the fans.

Greg flushed. "Of course I have!"

"You don't act like it!"

Greg bit his cheek and continued grabbing onto the cushions. His knuckles were white and were already starting to ache. His hair flew out behind him, and Greg had to joke to himself so his nerves didn't make him nauseous. Twenty five years old was an alright age, he reasoned. Humans typically lived 'till they were thirty. Forty if they were lucky. He gave a hysterical laugh, ducking as a rock flew at the hover's windshield. Yeah. Twenty five was a good age.

The hover slowed down, the wind falling away from Greg's face. The Pearl hit the brakes, sending Greg forward. He turned to the side so his ribs only hit the seat in front of him. He swore to himself and leaned back. His hair itched his face.

"That wasn't an attack, was it?" This was the first time Greg had ever heard an edge to her voice, and Greg shrunk in his hair.

"Ha!" he said nervously. He looked for a weapon, just in case that she was ready to attack. "You just stopped, really suddenly." He pulled his hair out of his face, realizing it was screwing with his observation.

He looked up, but stopped at the realization of where he was. He had no idea what the Cygnus Port was before, but Greg never suspected it was an abandoned wreck. In the centre of a massive plains, there it was. It was tiny. It seemed that only one of the docking inlets was actually working. And even then, it looked like it was being rebuilt. At least five Peridots walked upside down over it, flickering lights and small robonoids to get it working.

Greg looked higher, expecting a tower, like all the other ports had. This one had no such thing, but Greg noticed a single ship circling above it. Just a blue dot in the sky, Greg had to squint to stare up at it. It was shaped like and arrowhead.

"Looks like they're ready to come down any minute now." The green lights stopped flickering and robonoids fell to the ground. The Peridots slid down the port and fluttered to the ground. One pointed her arm into the air and shot a flare.

"Oh my stars!" Heliotrope's Pearl said. "Let's get ready for her landing!" The hover stopped its engines, lowering into grass that went up to Greg's chest. She hopped out, already starting to glide down. Greg was forced to follow. It occurred to him that he could just turn elsewhere, running out and away. He looked at the back of the Pearl's head and her long, straight hair.

But what could he do? There wouldn't be any food around, and other gems would know exactly how to find a runaway human. He heaved a sigh, his side starting to hurt, and slowed down.

The Cygnus station got close, and Greg noticed the Pearl stopping. He skidded to a halt.

"She's a bit early," the Pearl mused. "Must've been cruising. Stars know why, though…"

The ship turned downwards by a few degrees. The bright blue lights shining from the bottom of it became more prevalent before completely blacking out. Whirs cut through the wind, sending down blasts of air. The hovercraft fell hundreds of feet before blue lights kicked back on. The hover slowly fell back onto invisible struts. Greg saw the ship was silver, decked in pink stripes. It pitched again, evening itself out.

Greg glanced back at the Pearl. She turned back, making barely audible, giggly, wheezy noises. "Yeesh," he muttered under his breath.

The yellow grass around him started to blow with the wind. It wasn't cold, like when the bunker got drafty, but the air was actually heating up. A lot. Greg started to walk backwards to get away from the heat. The ground started kicking up dust. Greg was forced to shield his eyes, squinting them shut. It still didn't stop the pinpricks of pain that happened every time a grain of dirt hit his face.

He held his breath, but realized that he didn't need to any more. Greg opened his eyes to see the hover. Its door was closed, but the engines were finally off. The Pearl was hopping up and down excitedly, making the strange giggles. Greg felt the pit of dread in his stomach once more. He'd forgot about it since him and the Pearl took a hover ride.

Then the hatch began to open. The Pearl composed herself, her ever-present grin now reaching to her eyebrows. Greg saw pneumatics release foggy air, and five silhouettes showed through it.

"Please," the Pearl whispered. "Allow me to introduce you to Pink Diamond." She brushed the ruffles on her waistline. Greg felt the pit in his stomach turn to a black hole. Oh god. No.

The silhouette in the centre stepped out to reveal a giant woman in a massive pink gown. "The leader of Homeworld."


	4. Chapter 3

Well. This was… underwhelming. Pearl followed Rose out of the smoke, keeping her head high. The first thing she realized was how empty this planet was. She could see for miles without even a building's silhouette visible. She glanced at Rose's face to see if she was thinking the same, but noticed that she wasn't looking around her. She was looking at two forms. A human and a Pearl. The human was taller than the other Pearl, and had dark hair that fell down past his waist. The Pearl was pale like herself, but had a black shirtless suit, with only a ruffle at the waist. Her hair was longer than Pearl's, reaching down to her shoulders. The Pearl was struggling to stand still, her feet tapping and hopping about.

This was more underwhelming than she'd thought.

"Rose, this can't be the right planet," she whispered, standing on tiptoes to meet Rose's ear.

Rose shook her head. "Nope. Most definitely the right planet," she whispered back. Defeated, she got down and watched Tiger's Eye follow beside her.

"This is it?" she said. "A human and a Pearl?"

The human seemed not to notice any of it. "Well, welcome to Earth!" he said. He flashed a grin, like he might as well have been a Pearl. He just looked nervous, like Pearl felt every time she spoke in front of another Gem.

Rose smiled. "Thank you, human."

"I've never seen such a primitive place," the Peridot said from the other side of the door. "Nothing in sight."

"Well, where are you staying?" the other Pearl asked with a jump.

"Seaglass Estate," Rose replied promptly.

"Well, good to know," she said. "I'll take you there, and you'll be left with Gregory, here." She waved an arm to beckon them to a hover. It seemed small, like she wasn't expecting to transport five gems. The back end then extended until a new row of seats showed up. Pearl raised her brow, impressed. Guess she'd been wrong.

"Er, it's Greg," the human muttered as he got into the back of the hover. He inched to the side until he was at the back end of it. Rose got in first, climbing in the middle row. Before Pearl could get beside Rose, the Sapphire took her chance to hop in beside her. And Pearl was _not_ planning on freezing today.

Pearl pursed her lips in silent irritation, getting in beside the human. He glanced at her before scooting away until he hit the hover's left door.

Maybe it was for the better, Pearl realized, as the Tiger's eye hopped in. She took up most of the vehicle's right side, allowing Pearl and "Greg" a foot between the both of them to move. She pursed her lips, trying not to look at the human, or the other Pearl driving.

The Peridot was last, hopping in beside the Sapphire. Pearl saw a bit of frost already crawl up her limb enhancers.

The hover started, lifting into the air quickly. It was louder than the hovers on Homeworld. She noticed the seats vibrating on with the copters beneath her.

She grasped for something to keep her steady as the Pearl rocketed off. She didn't dare move or lean back in case a blast of wind from the speed sent her flying and got her poofed, or shattered.

She turned her head slowly, her hair flying in her face. The grass field that the crew was just in was already fading away to… more nothingness. The landscape got even more empty as the grass faded away to sand. They sped up a steep hill and Pearl forced a grip on the seat in front of her so she didn't fall. The hover halted at the hill with a swerve, sending Pearl flying into Tiger's Eye. She glared down at her and Pearl shrunk in her shoulders.

"We're here already?" Pearl asked, peeling her head away from the Quartz's biceps.

The human stared at her, eyes raised.

The other Pearl nodded. "Yeah, at full speed we can get here pretty fast."

Rose scratched at her hair. "I could tell," she said wearily.

"Well, at the bottom of this hill is Seaglass Estate." The other Pearl hopped out and opened the doors on the opposite side. The Peridot climbed out first, followed by the Sapphire. Pearl expected Rose to be next, but she just stood and waited. She nodded at the other Pearl to open the doors, and it happened quickly.

The Tiger's Eye hopped out quickly, landing with a thud. She got off of her knees and glared at Pearl. She smiled nervously and hopped off the craft. She landed on her toes and turned around, waiting for the human.

Rose was apparently waiting for the other _Gems,_ as she slid out from the door and floated to the ground.

The human scooted across the seats and jumped out of the van. He landed, but fell over onto his hands. He glanced up and then right back down. He got onto his knees and brushed the sand off of it. He glanced at the Tiger's Eye, clenching her fist while watching him, and turned away.

The Pearl curtsied at Rose and stepped to the front of the group. Rose stood beside her, looking straight down the hill.

At the bottom was a roof for a rectangular house. It was massive, the brown shingles seeming like tiny dots.

"It's… huge…" Pearl muttered.

"Yep. Now come on down." The other Pearl hopped down onto a rocky ledge with intricate designs etched into it and reached around. She pressed her hand on the side of the wall and more stone etchings found their way out.

Pearl blinked, forgetting how ancient some tech could be. On Homeworld, buttons like that were phased out centuries ago. Pearl motioned for them to come along, and she waited for the other gems to pass. First there was Rose, then Tiger's Eye, and then Sapphire. Pearl wanted to hop in front of both the Peridot and the human but waited for them to pass. The line was obviously sorted by rank, and a Pearl was probably below even a human. Even if Rose said she'd be higher than him, she still wanted to be careful. She walked behind the human, watching his clumsy movements, but then stopped when the Pearl stepped in behind her.

"You'll get used to them," the Pearl whispered to her. "That is, you won't get annoyed by them."

Pearl blinked in surprise as her shoulders tensed. She'd been too obvious again. She stopped and stared straight ahead. She cast a sideways glance at the Pearl beside her. She seemed not to do anything, but kept walking as though nothing was going on. Pearl felt her cheeks warm, realizing that all Pearls might not be completely bubbly.

It was a nice thought, but maybe the Pearl was just being, well, bubbly. She started walking faster down the steps.

The estate was coming further into view. Plants were lined in rows, and a way was completely paved in stone, in great contrast to the grass all around it. A beach was in front of the house, stretching out as far as she could see.

There was yet another hill up to the door, and Pearl felt a surge of tiredness. She shook her shoulders to sluff it off and followed the line. The Peridot tripped on something, sending her twirling until she caught her balance. She sighed, before glancing at Rose. "Er, sorry, Pink Diamond," she said, before scuttling just beside the Sapphire.

"It was inevitable," the Sapphire said, turning away.

They stopped at the door, and as the others stepped into the estate, the second Pearl stopped. "Well, I suppose I'll leave you here," she said, grinning. "I hope you'll have a great time here."

Rose turned around and curtsied back. "And thanks for bringing us here." She stood up. "Who's your commanding officer?"

Pearl glanced a the other, who curtsied back and replied, "Heliotrope. Do you have her communication link?"

Rose nodded. "I do."

Silence hung in the air, and then the other Pearl nodded. "Well, head on anyways. If you need me or Heliotrope, just call her."

Rose closed her eyes and held her hand out as a goodbye. Pearl subconsciously did the same.

"Well, everyone head in. Find your rooms," Rose said finally when they reached an open-spaced room. It branched out into halls and doorways.

Pearl sat down on a couch. She glanced around a bit before Tiger's Eye voiced her thoughts.

"This place doesn't look very Gem-like." She tapped her foot on the floor, covered with fuzzy cloth.

"Well, it isn't," Greg said. "It looks like a lot of humans designed it." He stopped when he glanced at Rose. "I'm sure the Gems had some say in its creation, though."

"Of course," she said, then waited a moment. The Peridot and Sapphire had gone down the same hall, one silent and one painfully loud. The Peridot was muttering in her high-pitched voice about how they might as well have been in a cave with the lack of tech was in the house.

Soon, Pearl and the human were the only one left. He grabbed the back of his head and ruffled his hand through his hair. "So…" he said. "Do you know my name?"

Pearl turned to him. "If it wasn't the only thing you've said the entire hover ride, I would've forgotten." She paused. "Greg, is it not?"

He nodded. "That's about right." He glanced at Pearl's gem. "You're a Pearl?"

Pearl blinked and then narrowed her brows at him. "How many Gems have you seen?"

"I've been raised around them," he said without any emotion. "Whenever someone from Homeworld comes around, I'm always the one serving them personally." He sighed and sat down, putting his hands on his chin. "I have no idea why, though."

Pearl found herself smirking as she got up. She stretched her legs out and started to walk across the floor. It was a few minutes until she heard muted shuffling. Thank the stars he was gone. She inspected the walls. They had diamond patterns all over it, but they weren't in the traditional simplistic style they were on Homeworld. They were instead intricate, with floral patterns painted into them. And the Peridot was right. She couldn't hear any electricity buzzing or even see a single security cam.

"The lack of security…" she thought out loud, "Is it because this place is so obscure or…?"

She sighed. Nobody was going to answer her of course. Why would they? She touched the ceilings and realized it wasn't metal. It was a warm, rough substance covering the walls. "Is the metal underneath or…"

She then turned around and saw Greg. He was staring in wide-eyed fascination. "You're really a strange Pearl, aren't you?"

She stood up tall and held her hands to her chest. "What? Whaddya-mean?" she asked quickly, and already felt her face flush blue.

"I've never seen a Pearl behave like _that_ before," he said and laughed.

Pearl shook her head and pushed down her transparent skirt. "Like what?"

He shrugged. "Inspecting rooms, checking for security… Hell, I don't think I've ever seen a Pearl feel wallpaper."

"Wallpaper?" So that's what it was.

"It's an Earthen thing."

Pearl raised her shoulders, clenching her hands into fists. This cheeky little… "Not all Pearls are the same, you know."

His face turned into a skeptical smirk. "Sure." He lifted and lowered his eyebrows quickly. "Don't worry," he said. "Your secret's safe with me." He turned around and found his way down the hall where Rose went. "I'll see you later."

Pearl stood in shocked silence, her eyes trained on the door where the human left the hall. Her hands clenched on the veil over her shoulders, twisting it into nervous knots.

She held her breath, waiting to hear some kind of malicious laughter or whatever humans did when they had potentially dooming information, but it never came. Her shoulders loosened. Maybe she was safe.

Well, at least until the human decided to tell every other Gem and human he knew. She felt a her shoulder-veil give way as a small tear broke through.

Well, maybe she was safe for now.


	5. Chapter 4

Amethyst rolled over, glancing over the edge of the cliff. Sure, this place was abandoned for a while, but since when had a hover come near it?

Ruby, next to her, tapped her on the shoulder. "Two Quartzes?" she asked. "Are you sure?"

Amethyst rolled over again, pushing up against her partner. "Of course I am. And the hover stopped _here,_ remember?" She motioned her head in the general direction of where it stopped. There should be a patch of dried grass around there… "And who would need two Quartzes?"

"You're a Quartz, remember?" Ruby said, nudging her. "And you're my size."

Amethyst shrunk in her shoulders and hung her head. A small Quartz. It was the reason she never showed her face around Gem society. At times, she wondered if anyone other than Ruby knew she existed.

Not that she was complaining. An empty kindergarten to live in, all the luxuries that she'd steal… Yeah, that was better than whatever sea spire some Gems could make.

"So, Amethyst," Ruby said, getting up and dusting her shorts off. "We should get going."

Amethyst nodded, groaning and pulling herself up off the ground. She pushed sand and grass off of it. "Good idea."

They started running down the hill, landing on that rock they'd watched one of the Pearls jump on. Two Pearls, Amethyst thought as she pressed her hand on a stone sticking out. What Gem needed two Pearls?

The button glowed white for a moment before stairs slid out from their positions on the cliff. Odd. They seemed a lot louder the first time. This time they were absolutely silent. Ruby booked it down the stairs, kicking down dust.

Amethyst shuffled down beside her, stopping at a window. Blue light peeked from underneath it. What in the…? She peeked into it and saw one of the gems that she thought was a Quartz. It looked like it at first glance, but didn't have the uniform for it. She wore a ball gown behind those pink ringlets. She then noticed that there were two other faces in the room, holograms that were the source of the blue light.

"Pink Diamond," one said. She had blue skin and hair. "Before discussion starts, is the room secure?"

A Diamond? She felt a grin on her face. This was going to be better than she thought.

"Wait a moment, let me double-check." The chair she was on creaked as she stood up and Amethyst ducked. She needed to run. A door opened, the pink-haired Gem paused, then the door creaked shut.

Amethyst leaped up and ran down the stairs, grabbing Ruby by the wrist. "I'll explain at the bottom," she hissed.

The window opened and Amethyst's heart stopped. She turned at the stairs before grabbing Ruby with both arms and jumping. She bit her cheeks not give a cry as she hit the ground and rolled.

She stood quiet for a moment, waiting for the window to close again. It did, and Amethyst let go of Ruby. She leaped up to the ground, melting some sand beneath her. "What was _that_ for?" she sputtered.

Amethyst opened and closed her mouth like a fish. "We were about to get caught." Then she remembered by whom. "We were about to get caught by a _Diamond._ " Amethyst got to her knees, chuckling. She slapped the sand off her back.

"That's stupid. Why would they let a Diamond here?"

"Beats me." Amethyst stopped, then started laughing. "Any idea how great this is, though?"

Ruby grabbed Amethyst's shoulders and shook her. "Quiet down! And what?"

"A Diamond is staying here," she started, the grin widening even further. "Meaning…"

Realization dawned on Ruby's face. She started laughing too. "This is going to be such a good raid… Any idea how much stuff we'll get?"

"Exactly!" She slapped Ruby's shoulder. "Come on, let's get this party started." She cracked her knuckles and loosened her body. She felt herself shrink, turning into a cat. She winked at Ruby before opening the door and scoping the place out.

The room was empty in the sense nobody was there. She grinned at the loot that was inside the first room alone. Cushions for her room, that was definitely something. She found herself lingering longer than she should have, her claws instinctively scratching into the carpet floor. She blinked then stepped out onto the porch. "It's clear. A bit creaky, though, Rube."

She shifted back into her usual form and scratched her short hair. She walked in on her toes, watching all the halls. Still empty. "Be careful," she whispered at Ruby. "The Diamond's still awake."

That stopped Ruby in her tracks for a moment as she stared out into space. Her fists clenched, and Amethyst put a hand on her shoulders. "It just means we'll be quiet, right?"

Ruby turned around, her teeth clenched. "I just remembered something," she said. "Let's… let's just get this over with." She pulled herself away from Amethyst and started at a cupboard with seashells all along it. She opened it quietly and piled a few in there.

"When we get back, we can… I dunno… do something with them, I guess," Ruby said, holding them in one hand. She closed the cupboard. "Aren't you grabbing anything?"

"Of course," Amethyst said, then noticed the angry expression on her face. She decided just to let her vent it quietly, before she burnt the place down. She reached for those pillows on the couch, bunching them in her arms. She noticed something hanging from the wall in the hallway to the right of her.

Her eyes traced it for a moment before she saw something just beside it. A sword cabinet. They were bright silver, reflecting anything in front of it. Amethyst tapped at the lock over its edge and growled to herself. She pulled her weapon out with a flash, stopped to check for anyone, and used one of its thorns to pick the lock.

It gave a click, and she pulled the cupboard open. Ruby'd like this. More so, Amethyst would like it if Ruby learned sword-fighting over randomly punching things. She glanced at Ruby and a smile cracked on her face. She crept up away from the hall. She knelt down and poked Ruby's shoulder.

Ruby turned around and Amethyst held the sword up. "To my lady," she said cheekily.

Ruby blushed furiously and grabbed it. "Wow," she said. "I might actually try using this one," she said, lifting it by the blade. "Thank…" Ruby looked up and all the colour drained from her face. "Ammy," she said.

Amethyst turned around and stood up, but stopped with her knees still bent. In front of her was a Sapphire. This was the first one she'd ever seen. She gulped. The Sapphire gasped. She raised her gloved hand to her mouth slowly.

"Ruby!" she hissed. "Ruby, do something!" She started backing away, and heard Ruby's sword clatter to the ground.

"What? What _can_ I do?" she said.

Amethyst felt panic welling in her. This was the first time they'd been caught mid-raid.

"I-I don't know," she said, starting to turn. Then she ran. She dropped everything she had, her weapon disappearing in the same flash it came. She swore at herself. How could she have been so stupid?

She bolted up the stairs, noticing the blue light from the window was dimming and switched. No. No. No-no-no-no-no-no. Ruby, please be running, she hoped. Please. She stopped at the top of the hill and turned around. There was Ruby, just starting her climb up the stairs. Thank the stars. "I'll be back home!" she shouted.

No response. Amethyst's shoulders tensed, but loosened when she remembered it was still Ruby, and she was still coming up.

She kept running. The grass got longer, whipping at her face until it cleared out after what felt like forever. It cleared out, revealing a steep incline into a canyon.

The abandoned kindergarten stretched out before her, and Amethyst breathed a sigh of relief. Running to the nearest hole, she slumped down in it and waited for Ruby.

She heard laboured sighs and stiffened. She risked a glance out the hole and saw the dark red silhouette of Ruby.

Then another one held in Ruby's grasp. It was dark blue in the moonlight. "What?" she hissed to herself. "Ruby? What is this?" She crawled out of the hole and ran to Ruby. "What on Earth?"

She glanced at the silhouette and stiffened in anger and fear. "Oh no…" she whispered, pulling a lock of her hair. "Ruby, how could you?"

"I didn't know what else to do!" he shouted, desperation in her voice.

"Poof her!" Amethyst shouted.

"Ex-Excuse me…" a voice said, deep and calm. The two Gems turned around to face the silhouette. "Why—Why am I here?"

Amethyst's skin prickled again. How had Ruby done this?

Why had she kidnapped a Gem?

 _AN: When Stevenbomb destroys all your headcanons and much of the plot relied on them... v.v_

 _Deathbright, did you think I wouldn't have Ruby and Sapphire here? I mean, why else would a Sapphire be on the crew? ;D_


	6. Chapter 5

_AN: Sorry about the wait. I was having a major writing block..._

Greg opened the door out of what he assumed to be the servants' quarters, and found himself looking for a room to wash his clothing. He already checked the hallway he was in at sunset yesterday, but there weren't any laundry rooms near. It was like gems never changed.

Greg stepped down the hallway, his feet dragging on the floor. "Sure, they don't," he grumbled, "But we do."

His grumblings stopped the second he reached the foyer. He stumbled when he reached for a sword cupboard's glass front. His hand fell in the empty space where it should've been. "What the—" He glanced up and saw exactly what happened. The entire place looked ransacked. The other door for the cupboard swung wide open, and Greg clearly saw a sword had been lifted from its hooks. He looked down and the lock that was on it just yesterday had fallen to the carpet. "Oh my god," he whispered.

He then noticed the scratches in the carpet, and torn off strings of it laying on the floor. He paced around it, heart racing faster and faster. A struggle? Somebody'd been kidnapped.

Other humans had been kidnapped before, presumably to be "retired," but he'd never assumed it could happen to a Gem, too. The couch looked completely empty, stripped of its cushions. He shuddered. Were they still here?

He glanced around and heard shuffling. Greg's heart stopped for a split second, and he glanced at the rafters from where it came. Dead silence. He paced backwards, then ran down the hall where the leader of the Gems, Pink Diamond, was.

He knocked on the door as politely as he could manage, but it still came out rapid and worried.

The door swung open and Greg stared straight in the Gem's face. "Ma'am," he said, "There's something wrong." He took a deep breath, ready to explain all he could. "I went down the hall and then in the foyer. There were thieves. In the middle of the night! And they took someone!"

He noticed the worry rising on her face and Greg felt his stomach churn. The Gem gave him a withering glance, but nodded serenely. "Get the other Gems," she said. "If someone doesn't reply, report to me immediately." Her shoulders heaved. "Now, go, human."

Greg nodded, his memories about where the Gems were all staying in flickering in his mind. He first ran down to the end of the hall. This was where the other Quartz was staying. He rapped on the door, waiting for it to open up. It did, revealing a tall gem with cool brown skin. Tiger's Eye, he remembered. "Tiger's Eye? Pink Diamond — she's getting everyone assembled."

The Gem nodded, and she pushed Greg out of the way. He was winded as he fell into the wall, but the Gem was already stomping away.

Greg coughed and got onto his knees. "Geez," he grumbled. He got to his feet, instinctively brushing them off, but no dust came off.

He remembered what he had to do and ran across the foyer and into the other hall. He knocked on the first door. "Excuse me!" He started knocking harder before it was opened just a crack.

"It's you," the Peridot said. "The human."

Greg felt his face flush. "Yeah, it's me. Can you open the door a bit more? It's something important."

The door was opened enough so that her face was visible. " _How_ important?"

"Look," Greg said, pushing the door further open. "Pink Diamond wants you in the foyer. Something's gone wrong overnight and we need to take attendance."

She sighed and opened it fully. Her fingers retracted into her palms, and she slipped out without even giving Greg so much as a second glance.

"Humans," she muttered, before turning into the Foyer.

Greg sighed and continued down the hall. He met another door, trying to remember if it was the Sapphire or the Pearl's door.

There was a second before it was the Pearl that opened up. She looked up, but when she didn't find anything, glanced at Greg. "Oh!" she said, but then narrowed her eyes. "It's you."

Greg nodded. "Look. I'm not going to tell anyone," he said. "You know, about the—"

"I know exactly what about. Now, why're you here?" she snapped.

"Pink Diamond wants you. Something went wrong. Go to the foyer."

She nodded but cast a shady stare at Greg. "I'll be right there."

She wasn't. Greg noticed that she stood, waiting for him to move along. He nodded and went to the last door in the hall. He looked behind him, watching Pearl scurry down the halls. For a smart Pearl, she acted pretty much like all of them.

The Sapphire's door, he remembered, tapping on it quietly. No response. Maybe she was like the Peridot, who wouldn't open the door after a while. He seethed under his teeth and knocked harder.

Still no response. Greg felt the hairs on his arms rising. "Miss Sapphire?" he asked, knocking harder.

Again, the other side of the door was quiet. Greg turned slowly, stagnating a second in case she'd open it. She didn't. Greg's shoulders weighted, wondering what would happen to him if he had to say that the Sapphire was gone. He'd probably be drawn and quartered, at least in the Gem sense.

He ran into the foyer and saw four Gems lined up. They cast him a quick glance before turning back to Pink Diamond. The Pearl glared for a moment, but did the same.

"Gregory," the pink Gem said. "Where's the Sapphire?"

Greg tugged at his shirt sleeves, averting his gaze from the Diamond's. "The Sapphire, she didn't respond." He lowered his gaze enough to watch his shoes. "I think she's the one gone."


	7. Chapter 6

_An: FEAST... or... FAMINE. (I'm totally joking, but that's how it feels. XD)_

Amethyst glowered at the blue Gem, Sapphire. She was done having her around. It was nearly mid-day by now, and all she had done was freeze up the place. Then Ruby was there to melt it all. What resulted was dry air and water flowing down the kindergarten like a river.

She watched as Ruby, who'd generally been as distant as Amethyst was, stepped closer to her. She sat down, and Amethyst noticed the uncomfortable expression on her face as she melted the ice beneath her. "So," she began, glancing behind her.

"What do you want?" Sapphire asked.

"I just want to show you something—"

"Like how much things you've stolen from innocent Gems?" Ice spiked up around Ruby and Amethyst reached for the gem on her chest.

"No, no, no, it's nothing like that." She reached behind her and pulled out a handful of seashells. "It's a game."

Amethyst's shoulders heaved. Of course. Amethyst usually wouldn't have cared if Ruby was using Amethyst's stuff, but when the only thing that Ruby contributed to their home was an annoying, snooty Gem that made even breathing uncomfortable, she got a little peeved. The best thing Ruby could do at the time would be to put her back where she belonged.

Still, she watched as Ruby put the shells down in a line. She scraped the dirt below her and pulled up a rock. She put it under the centre shell and then looked up at Sapphire. "Do you know which one the rock's under?"

Without a beat, she responded, "The middle one."

"Alright. Watch it. I'll be shuffling them around." Ruby did, and for a few minutes Amethyst watched the shells. Ruby must've been playing easy, because she didn't move the pebble into a different shell.

Ruby ended the shuffling and then lifted her hands. She might've took it into her hand at the last second. "Where is it now?"

"The one to the right."

Amethyst laughed to herself. Ruby never even had the pebble there in the end. And if it was, she bet it was still in the middle.

"Alright then," Ruby said, then opened the shell. In fact, the pebble was sitting right there. Amethyst gaped, and glanced at Ruby to meet her gaze.

"What? You've got to be playing easy," she said, walking closer into the hole.

"No!" She raised her hands in the direction of Sapphire. "I swear by the stars, I'm not." Ruby looked at Sapphire. "Well, you've won. Want to try again?"

She shrugged. "Nothing says I shouldn't." Amethyst blinked at the odd statement, but waited for Ruby to do her thing.

She shuffled quicker this time, and Amethyst caught the glint of the pebble falling to the ground.

Ruby stopped a few shuffles later.

The ice around Sapphire fell away as she answered quickly. "You threw it on the floor to fool me."

Ruby hesitated, then blushed a fiery red. She lifted up all three shells. "Yeah, you've got it."

Amethyst saw the corners of Sapphire's mouth twitch, and she turned her head up. "Another round?" The ice melted away and pooled at the centre of the hole.

"Sure," Ruby said, turning around. She heard the scoop of dirt and then it falling to the ground. So she was using three pebbles now, just to mess with her. "So you really get a kick out of this game…"

There was silence as she nodded. "It takes my mind off things."

"Alright then." Ruby placed the pebbles in the shells before turning back. "Now, let's go."

She shuffled fast enough that Amethyst could barely see her hands going. She went for a full minute, and Amethyst noticed the water falling away from the de-iced dirt walls. She chuckled to herself, and saw Ruby had stopped.

If there weren't all three pebbles in there, Amethyst wouldn't have given up. "Guess which one now," Ruby said smugly.

"All of them." Nearly all the ice fell away as Ruby flared up.

"What?" she asked. Amethyst stole a glance behind her to the kindergarten. That was louder than she'd have liked. "How do you know?"

Ruby turned to Amethyst, who shrugged. How was she supposed to know?

Recognition dawned on Ruby's face. "You know, back before we were retired from the service, the other Rubies talked about Gems that could see the future." She chuckled loudly. "Oh man, the jokes I've heard about those Gems." She quieted down at an angry glare from Amethyst. "Well, either way. Are you one of them?"

Ice crept up around Sapphire, freezing the stream. "I don't want to say."

So she was. _Wonderful_. Amethyst's hair started to raise on end. "Well, are you important?"

"I don't want to say." Ice spiked up from the patches around her in sharp spikes, and Ruby hopped out of the way.

She put her hand on the spikes, smoothing them down. "It's alright." She turned to Amethyst and then back to Sapphire. "Should we leave?"

There was no sound as frost crept into her lighter blue hair. Ruby put a hand, melting some of the frost, and walked to Amethyst. "We should go."

Amethyst nodded. About time. Just as she turned, she was stopped by Sapphire's voice. "I actually have something to tell you."

Amethyst sighed. "What?" she hissed, but stopped herself as Ruby threw a not-so-subtle growl at her.

"Well, I _am_ one of those gems. The psychic ones." She turned away.

 _Like we didn_ _'t know._ She stepped closer. "That's it? You're psychic, so what?"

Ruby turned back to Amethyst and narrowed her eyes. She sat down on the ice and turned to Sapphire. "We aren't bugged by cheating at the shell game."

Ice spiked up. "You think I care about the shell game?" she wailed. "They're looking for us right now, and when they find us, it isn't going to be pretty."

Amethyst watched as the centre of her face wettened, then dried. What in the…?

"For you or us?" Amethyst asked, leaning against the wall.

What she didn't expect was Sapphire looking up and pulling her bangs out of her face. One eye stared up at her. "Both."

Amethyst leaned into Ruby, thinking of the doom the other Gems might as well have been. Oh, this was all their faults. Her shoulders tensed. Ruby should have poofed Sapphire and been done with it. But no.

She got off of Ruby's shoulder and sat up tall. "So we should hide."

Sapphire nodded. "That way, there's a chance they won't find us."

Amethyst nodded, clawing scratches into the dirt. "Can't you tell us any more than that?"

"The future's a shaky thing. And around you," she sighed. "It just blurs even more." She put her gloved hand down, and Ruby took it.

"You did the best you can. When do they come?"

Sapphire smiled, ice falling away from her. Amethyst saw flames crackling at Ruby's feet and she growled internally.

"They come tonight."

Amethyst scratched her hair. "You think that we'd survive anyways?"

Ruby glanced at Sapphire before Amethyst. "Of course we would."


	8. Chapter 7

Pearl ducked her head out over the kindergarten's edge, yet again. One hand was placed over the sword hanging at her side. Course she didn't know how to use it.

She noticed how the kindergarten was a mess. Holes that once held gems were capsized, and the few holes that still survived looked like they'd been dug out by small animals.

Maybe that was just the light though.

Pearl barely discerned a bed of mud at the centre the canyon's bottom. How on Homeworld would that have gotten there? Technicians wouldn't have put a kindergarten on top of an underground lake, would they? Of course they wouldn't. Pearl growled at herself and slammed her fist on the cliff's edge, sending rocks tumbling to the bottom. What was she supposed to be looking for? All she knew was that the Sapphire was gone. Should she be watching out for ice patches and Sapphire tied up on a stake?

She sighed and looked behind her to see how Peridot was doing. She was crouching on the ground, arms to the ground. She noticed a vibration in the ground. Peridot's face lit up only to fall after a few seconds. Dammit. Pearl turned back to watch the gorge again.

Wait a second.

Pearl double-checked to realize that the Tiger's Eye and Rose weren't there any more.

She turned back to the kindergarten, looking for them now. It was then that she noticed the shadows creeping against the wall. She noticed Rose striding through the kindergarten, the Tiger's Eye in front of her.

She watched as Tiger's Eye kicked a rock out of the way, and heard it crash against the kindergarten's far wall.

Right beneath her, she heard a strangled gasp. Pearl straightened out a the sound and looked down. Tiger's Eye exchanged glances with Rose and dug a massive hand in the ground. Pearl backed away from the cliff's edge. She came up with a small boulder, and hurled it at the wall Pearl was over. The edge fell away in clumps of dead grass, and Pearl hopped back.

"Ouch!" someone whispered.

Ouch? Pearl stood up and turned to the Peridot. "Try another pulse, I think I've got something."

Peridot glared, but sighed as she stuck her conical arm in the grass. Pearl felt a deep vibration, then heard scuffs of feet. Was that a Gem? An animal?

"Aha!" the Peridot shouted. Pearl stiffened and ran towards her.

"What's 'Aha?'" she asked, looking down at the Gem on the ground.

"Not telling you. Go back and keep watch, _Pearl._ " She glanced up, the moonlight making it impossible to see her eyes through her visor.

"Excuse me, but I need to tell Pink Diamond." She paused and tried to add a bit more authority in her voice as she said, "Now."

She rolled her eyes and threw a withering glare her way. "Well, If your Pearl-esque little mind needs to know, there are three figures in the cave. One looks… Ruby-ish… and I have _no idea_ what the other one is. But there's Sapphire in there."

Pearl stood for a few seconds, trying to process the information. That meant there were two Gems other than the Sapphire.

"A human child, maybe — Ack! They've stopped moving!"

Two kidnappers. Pearl shuddered at another thought. Two threats. Not to mention that one of those was supposedly a Ruby, a race of guard Gems that had all been shattered when Quartzes emerged to replace them. If she could survive that, then what was that Gem capable of?

"Move along, won't you?" Another pulse went through the ground. "Tell Pink Diamond, like you wanted to." Peridot glared at a screen coming from her other arm, and her face lit up. "Yes! Back to moving!"

Pearl nodded, stepping away to the edge of the cliff. Her eyes traced the gorge's edge, and how the ramp leading down to the kindergarten was a far distance away. She needed a faster way to get down. She looked down. There was a ledge a few feet down. It was in front of a hole, in case she should check in there.

She glanced back at Peridot, watching her expectantly. She hissed to herself and looked at the ledge again. Okay, so maybe it was a bit more than a few feet. She could still hop on down there and get to Rose far faster. In a choice of the safest or safe but faster way, she chose the latter.

She sat down to dangle her legs over the edge. She stretched her right leg down the wall, attempting to reach it. Not close enough. She narrowed her eyes, and put her weight onto her arms as she could get her body just that foot more. Still not close enough.

She bit her lip. The muscles in her arms were starting to hurt. As her hands started slipping, she growled to herself. She'd have to let go.

So she did.

She fell down, exactly on the ledge. Feet already falling out from beneath her, she spun to grab at the wall.

Her hands clawed at the hole's edge, but the dirt crumbled away as she grabbed it. She fell backwards and had to force all her weight onto the ledge. She just barely grabbed it.

Another strangled gasp.

Pearl's gaze snapped to the hole. The glimmer of eyes stared back at her in red and purple shock, but in blue fear. Her grasp weakened.

All it took was just one second for her to lose her grip. Dirt fell away in clods of dead grass and soil, removing Pearl's hands from the ledge entirely.

Slipping. She felt wind blast through her clothing. The cliff-top fell further and further away. Her back smashed against a jutting rock, sending jolts of pain through her. Her sword lost its weight and clattered to the ground.

A second later, she herself hit the kindergarten's bottom.

She groaned, trying to stand up. Wobbling to her feet, she became aware of the hole in her abdomen, and the throb in her shoulders. She caught sight of rose and struggled to regain composure. "My Diamond," she began.

Rose stared at her, the Tiger's Eye mirroring her expression.

She felt a surge of pride and fear at the whiteness at the periphery of her vision. "I found them."

Dazedly, she pointed to the ledge she fell from. The glow nearly covered her vision, and she could only see dim silhouettes. She barely felt her legs give way beneath her and she crumpled to the ground. Finally, the whiteness took over.

* * *

Rose stared in disbelief at the white gemstone laying in the dirt. Pearl'd never done that before.

"Least she isn't cracked," the Tiger's Eye said.

"I could tell that." Oh Pearl. Her stupid sweet Pearl. Why couldn't she have just walked? She stepped closer to the stone and knelt down in front of it. It was strange, seeing how a being full of life could just turn into a near-dead rock.

Rose stared up at the sky. Now she remembered why she wanted Earth to stay Earth. Because a planet so vibrant could have easily died. She looked at the kindergarten around her. If the diamonds didn't compromise for her, then it certainly would be just as dead as the kindergarten.

Just like Pearl looked. A tear threatened to fall down her cheek, and she picked up Pearl's gem. She rubbed the dirty gemstone against the edge of her eye, smudging her face with black soil. She held Pearl's gem in front of her chest, and watched it already start to glow. Rose laid the gemstone on the canyon's floor, watching it glow. The gem turned to light and lifted feet off the ground, Pearl's lithe figure already growing from it. Hair sprouted from the bright head. Her translucent skit flared out, stopping just before her toes. The glow faded, and Pearl's pale skin was now visible. Her eyes opened, and she fell to the ground. She stared up at Rose and got to her feet. Rose's lips parted in a smile.

"Ro — My Diamond!" Pearl said, hopping to her feet.

Rose tried to hide the wince when Pearl addressed her by her real name. "It's good to see you again, Pearl." She put her hands on Pearl's shoulder, and she noticed Pearl's posture straighten.

"You too."

They stood in silence before Rose realized the Tiger's Eye's gaze on them both. She forced her smile down and turned Pearl towards her. "Where did you say they were?"

Pearl nodded. "They're up in the cave. Three Gems. They might be gone now, though."

Rose turned to Tiger's Eye. "Go get Peridot."

"I'm on it." She ran to the wall in a chestnut-haired flash and leaped against the wall. She pulled her hands in about halfway up, and scaled it quickly. "Peridot, get down here! We've found them."

The Quartz stood on the cliff before the Peridot came to the edge. She picked the green gem up and jumped.

She descended near-immediately, and she fell to the ground almost gracefully. She unbent her knees and put the Peridot on the ground. "So what's the battle plan?" she asked, cracking her knuckles.

Rose looked up at the cliff then turned to Tiger's Eye. "You and I will scale the cliff." She turned to Peridot. "If we don't get them taken care of, you and Pearl will take care of them on the ground. And Peridot, don't use your arm cannons until you really need to. Understood?"

She nodded.

"Good. Now, let's go." She motioned to Tiger's Eye and ran to the wall. She leaped, and kicked her legs out. She grabbed a foothold and clawed into the wall. She pushed off with her powerful legs, her dress dragging the dirt on the wall. She jumped to another ledge, half-way to the top, and her eyes caught on the ledge Pearl fell from.

She looked into the shadow of the hole and realized it was lager than any normal Quartz' hole. The floor was smooth from years of use. Unlike the other holes, it was clean. Not a single pebble dotted its edge. She stared for a moment, before motioning to Tiger's Eye to stay quiet. If there were gems in there, she'd be able to hear them.

She put her left hand to her gemstone as she leaped onto the ledge. She saw nothing, but ventured a quick lie. "You're breaking several Gem laws, near all of which are punishable by shattering." She clasped her finger over her gem, hiding its glow. "We'll pardon you if you leave our Sapphire unharmed." She certainly wouldn't _pardon_ them, but if the Sapphire was safe, she'd give them a less severe punishment.

There was silence, and Rose caught the glimmer of one, two pairs of eyes.

"Liar," someone whispered. She saw a flash of light. Rose summoned her shield seconds before something smashed into her. She held her ground, instead pushing her assailant away in front of her.

"Tiger's Eye!" she shouted, holding her shield high in case the Gem decided it'd be a good time to attack.

She heard rocks falling as Tiger's Eye clambered up the cliff wall. Rose felt another fist land against her shield. She grunted to push away the attacker. She put her effort into the ground below her, willing plants to come out of it. None came. She growled, trying to get more out of the ground. This place was dead.

Instead, she decided to just operate off her Gem's glow. She swung her shield, hoping to catch one of the Gems' heads. As her shield nearly collided with a familiar blue-haired head, she stopped. "Sapphire," she hissed as she threw her shield back. It collided with another Gem, and she heard her fly into the cave wall. "Get out of here!" She twisted, using only her gem's glow to operate. She watched Sapphire run beneath her shield and slide out the cave ledge.

Rose's eyes settled on the first attacker. She almost looked like… a Ruby? "Betrayer!" she heard the Ruby whisper.

Rose started for a moment. Sapphire trusting these Gems, or even promising anything to them? No. She dug her toes into the ground, hoping to will up plants. None came. She tried harder, but had to keep her eye out for the other Gems. Again, the plants didn't come. Was the soil in the kindergarten this dead? She dug her toes deeper, trying to muster something up. Nothing again. She pushed her shield up, feeling the give as someone flew backwards.

The Tiger's eye waited at the edge of the cave, eyes wide. She held a summoned morning star.

"What're you doing?" Rose growled. She was almost going to stop the other Quartz, but realized that nothing could entangle her.

"Watching for—" She stopped and ran into the cave. She swung her weapon and there was a gasp. A flash of light, and then a gem clattered to the ground. "Got the Ruby. But the Sapphire says there's another."

"What?" Rose looked in front of her, seeing nothing.

"I don't see her though," Tiger's Eye said, turning out of the cave. "She might have run away."

Rose shook her head, but then stopped. Or the Sapphire could have lied, given what the Ruby shouted at her as she left.

"You might be right," she said. The Tiger's Eye turned, and then she saw the purple glow. Rose grabbed her shield. "Dodge!" Tiger's Eye did move as the Gem ran at them. She leaped, hitting nothing. Rose saw her chance then. She pushed her shield out, watching as she fell straight off the cliff. There was another blast of light, and then nothing.

She grabbed the Ruby's gemstone off of the ground, brushing a bit of dust from it.

"My Diamond," Tiger's Eye said. "You aren't going to be crying for this _traitor,_ are you?

Rose shook her head. "We just need to keep her prisoner." She summoned a bubble over it. She held her hands out as she stood at the edge. "And thank you for poofing this Ruby."

She leaped down the ledge, levitating just before she hit the ground. She dropped the final foot, making sure not to land on the other, unidentified Gem.

She picked it up and put into another bubble. "That's all of them. We did well. Peridot, you found them. Sapphire, you informed us of the second one. And Tiger's Eye, you neutralized the Ruby." She almost mentioned Pearl, but remembered the Peridot's reaction to Pearl. She decided not to say nothing, but her heart sank at the hard stare from her.

"But I have a problem with your… ethics, Sapphire?" She turned to the blue Gem and noticed her lighter hair rising. Ice trickled at the ground beside her.

"The Ruby called you a betrayer before you left the cave. Do you have any explanation for that?" She fixed a cold glare on her.

The Sapphire stepped away. "I — I didn't do anything, my Diamond."

She narrowed her gaze. "I think that isn't the case." She drew her shield again, letting the Ruby's bubble float in the air. She cast glances to the other Gems. Tiger's Eye was nonplussed. Peridot didn't seem like she could care less. Her eyes rested on Pearl, and her gaze dropped. She looked terrified. Her hands were working furiously on her veil, and she was watching Rose intently. _Don_ _'t._ That's what she was saying.

Rose didn't want to kill a possibly valuable diplomat, anyways.

She stared down at Sapphire. She looked terrified, like a Pearl who was about to be shattered.

Rose let her shield go, and it faded out of existence. "Well, if you want to be around these Gems so much, it'll be your job to guard them. You'll alert me when they reform. Understood?"

The Sapphire dropped her hands from their tense position. "Yes, my Diamond. Th-Thank you."

Rose didn't respond, staring her down. "Back to the estate, Gems."

They nodded and followed nervously behind as Rose headed to the kindergarten's exit.


	9. Chapter 8

Rose, tired from the night's events, opened the door to her room. The door creaked open quickly, and she was about to invite Pearl inside. Then she remembered. Pearl had her own quarters here, and it was strange to rest without Pearl's blue gaze watching her. She sighed, and entered the room. A spread of cushions lay on the floor, all in a soft blue tone. Rose sat down on them and pushed a few away so she could lay on the floor. She didn't know why, but the floor always felt nice to sleep on, and the pillows around her added support.

She rolled over on her side, pulling a cover over her. She tried to sleep, but didn't feel any bit restful. Even when she tried to close her eyes and clear her mind, but she couldn't. Was she forgetting something?

The large window in her chamber threw bright dawn sunlight, and Rose squinted her eyes shut tighter, too lazy to close the shutters. She went at this for a few moments, but something kept nagging the back of her head.

What hadn't she done? She rolled over uncomforted on the pillows. She'd spent the morning planning the attack, had barely had any time to look through White Diamond's old records, and then spent all night searching for the Sapphire. Now it was morning, and here she was apparently unable to sleep. She then remembered and swore. The report! She got up, near immediatly and brushed her ringlets behind her shoulders. She picked up her feet as she left the room. She kicked a few pillows out of the way as she ran out of the room.

How could she have been so stupid? The door slammed behind her as she found the spiral staircase to the second floor. She was greeted by a large room with a table in the middle of it. Despite the dust, she stopped for a moment to stare.

She couldn't see a trace of Gem technology. Humans, for being 'lower' creatures, had such great architecture. She shook the ideas out of her mind. Gems still were objectively better. Stronger. Faster. She stopped at the door to the conference room. Smarter?

A diamond-esque cube with four sides to it lay in the center, but near to the front. She grabbed the cube hurriedly and twisted it. One side, two, three sides. The blue, pink, and yellow sides glowed. Three projections opened up. The diamond-screens were just floating shapes in their respective colours.

The yellow screen lit up first, and revealed the profile of Yellow Diamond's face. She was looking down at someone, nodding. "I really don't care how much the materials are worth. But the complexes have got to be fixed."

The blue screen flashed white, and then a familiar blue-haired face showed. She didn't look the least bit happy. "Spare me the explanation, Pink Diamond." She cast a deadpan look towards Rose.

"It's just a daily report, Blue," Rose said calmly. "It's nothing urgent." Rose clasped her hands in front of her to indicate no ill will, even if she did find herself a bit peeved at Blue's greeting.

There were footsteps from Yellow's line, and a door slammed shut. "I apologize for the Flourite there."

Rose gave a grin to Yellow. "It's alright. They're still a bit buggy."

Yellow turned her camera a bit upwards so that her face was more visible. "But Blue does have a point. You didn't report yesterday."

"There's a reason for that," Rose said, raising her hand to justify herself. "I had some problems with my crew."

Blue blinked. "Such as?"

"Our Sapphire was kidnapped in the night."

Blue's face loosened, but Yellow's tightened. "What?" she asked. "Weren't there any guards?"

Rose glanced down at her hands. "The Sapphire was the one on Guard." She saw Blue's smirk and her lips tightened. "Earth doesn't have much resources, Gem-wise. We thought she'd be fine."

Yellow Diamond silenced Blue. "I understand now, Pink. But the important question is if she's back in safe hands."

Rose nodded. "Yes, we retrieved her from her kidnappers."

Blue stood up tall, pulling her hood down to reveal short blue hair. "And the kidnappers? Who were they? Have you dealt with them?"

Rose nodded. "A Ruby and another unidentified Gem." Rose tried not to mention that both the Ruby and the other Gem were still alive and regenerating inside the estate.

Blue stopped saying what she was going to say. "A Ruby? Those were all shattered thousands of years ago. And an unidentified Gem? Do you think…?"

Rose turned to Yellow's screen. "What do you think, Yellow?"

Her face had fallen into a stare at nowhere. "I think she might have designed her own Gem bodyguard. Stars know why, though…"

Rose blinked, thinking of a reason. "Maybe being alone for three thousand years made her design her own Gem."

Blue laughed. "Ha! Really, Pink. You've had stupid ideas before, but I don't think a Ruby would be _capable_ of something like that."

"It's worth an interrogation. Even Yellow thinks the idea's valid."

"Wait, you left them alive?" Blue asked, shocked.

"True." Yellow ignored Blue Diamond, but the hair on the back of her head stuck out higher than usual. "But after you interrogate them, you have to shatter them."

Rose agreed wordlessly. "Well, my report is done. Has anything new happened on Homeworld?"

Lazuli was the first to talk. "Since you left, the Quartz police force has been acting up. Fifteen Gems have been shattered but the offenders have been deported."

"It's funny that you're amazed I'm not shattering gems, and here you are. Deporting Gems rather than killing them, Lazuli," Rose said Drily. "Where to? You know you can't send them to a full Gem colony, and some rock in the middle of the galaxy won't exactly make them too happy."

Lapis stopped for a moment, staring Rose down. "Well, if the twenty-odd Quartzes want to see you so bad, I sent them to Earth."

Rose stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "What?" she asked. "Did you even think what they're going to do to this planet?" Her mouth curled downwards. "It's a gem colony!"

Blue laughed. "Earth isn't a full Gem colony though, is it? We didn't build nearly 95% of our plans. And so, it isn't full."

"Ladies!" Yellow Diamond cut in, but Rose ignored her.

"Send those Gems back, or —"

Rose was cut off as Lapis' screen flashed blue and disappeared from view. She stared at Yellow. "Can't you do anything about it, if Blue won't?"

Yellow shook her head. "I only work in infrastructure. Now that you're in government and she's taken over Defense as _well_ as the military, she's gotten full control over the force." With that, she shook her head sadly and logged off of the conversation herself.


	10. Chapter 9

Greg opened the door to what he finally found to be the laundry room and stopped. There was the blue Gem, Sapphire.

She sat on the floor, holding a red gemstone in her hand. She clenched it against her chest, but stopped as Greg got closer inside. On the floor was her other hand, holding a large purple gemstone beneath it.

"Shouldn't be long now," she said, and Greg wasn't sure whether or not that was directed at her or him.

"Excuse me?" Greg asked, holding his shirt in his hands. He quickly put it back on before she could catch sight of the scars on Greg's back.

The Sapphire didn't even look at him. "The Gems I'm guarding. Once they reform in a few minutes, I have to tell Pink Diamond. Of course someone else, like Pearl, will be there to send for her when the time comes."

Greg nodded and sat down. "What's 'reform'?" He inched towards the water bucket.

Sapphire smiled beneath her white-ish hair. "These Gems here got hurt. Really, really badly. And because we're Gems…" She started to sound smug, but Greg tried to ignore it. "We stop wasting power on our bodies and fall back into our gemstones. If it isn't broken, that is. There, we use all our energy to heal. When we're finished, like this Amethyst here is going to be in a minute, then we reform our bodies."

Greg scratched the wood. "Understood." They sat in silence for a few moments before Greg stared at the water pump sticking out of the wall. "May —"

"Of course," the Sapphire said, scooting out of the way. Greg stared at her in confusion. "Of course you can use the bucket."

Greg nodded slowly and walked to the bucket. He pulled his shirt off and threw it in, hoping Sapphire wasn't looking. He grabbed the lever for the water pump and pushed it down. Water flooded the bucket, and Greg watched the Sapphire. She seemed to do nothing.

Greg sighed and looked down at his hair, which was starting to get submerged in the water. "It's quiet here, isn't it?" he asked beneath his breath.

"Nobody speaks unless spoken to." Sapphire flattened her bangs over her face and then sat quietly.

Greg nodded, feeling awkward. "So, what's it like? Back on—"

"Hard to navigate unless you know how." She didn't say anymore, but Greg thought he got the gist. He scratched his arm as the bucket got enough water for him to submerge the shirt. He waited for a moment. Was it hard to navigate because it was a massive city? Or was it some other reason?

He'd glimpsed a picture of an ominous, hollow-looking planet in Heliotrope's office once. Was that what Homeworld looked like?

There was a flash of light, and Greg pivoted to stare at it. The Sapphire had let go of the purple gemstone and it was now floating in the air and glowing. Greg stepped back and tripped over the bucket. He only caught himself by grabbing the pump. "What the?" he asked.

The gem seemed to be changing shape into a gem as short as Sapphire. It had short purple-white hair and violet skin, he noticed as the glow faded away. The gem fell to the ground and popped up. "What?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Where am I?" Her eyes rested on the Sapphire and she calmed down a bit. She only started to look angry rather than scared.

She sat down. "It didn't work did it?" she asked. She then whirled on Sapphire. "You were lying, weren't you?"

Sapphire shook her head calmly. "Like I said." She noticed Greg watching her and then stopped. "We'll talk later." Greg's shoulders fell slack in disappointment. "For now, we wait until Ruby reforms."

The purple Gem stared at Greg.

"She almost looks like Heliotrope…" Greg whispered.

"You're a funky Gem," she said. The Heliotrope idea was gone immediately as the purple gem crawled up to him and poked his sides. "Are you a… Pearl?"

Greg laughed. "What?" He shuffled away and stuck his hand in the barrel. "Wha—! No, I'm a human."

"Oh!" she said, stepping closer to him and looking at his nose closely. "So that's what you look like up close! Where's your Gem?"

Greg nodded and tried to get some space from the Gem. "Uh, yeah. Who… are you?"

"Oh." The purple Gem stepped away and gave a 'formal' bow. "Amethyst, at your service." She seemed to lighten up. "Well, at least I'm not dead." With that, she shot a nasty glare to Sapphire.

The red Gemstone flashed and was now floating. So this was… Ruby? She popped out in a flare of bright orange light and Greg had to shield his eyes. The Ruby had vaguely cubical hair and was a bit shorter than Sapphire. She dropped to the ground and coughed. She leaped to her feet and her hand flashed. A stone gauntlet appeared. Greg backed against the wall.

Ruby stared at him and bared her teeth. She leaped and Greg's heart stopped. Halfway there, Amethyst barrelled into Ruby and slammed into the bucket.

It toppled over, pouring soapy water all over the floor. It was only enough water to fill an eighth of the bucket, but it was enough to cover half the floor and soak the rug in the centre.

"Why'd you do that?" Ruby shouted at Amethyst. "She's obviously hostile!"

Greg slammed his hand against his forehead. "Oh my God…" he whispered.

The door slammed open and Greg jumped. He tripped over the toppled bucket and fell onto the wall.

"What in the stars'—?" she started, then fixed a glare on Greg. "You should have gone and grabbed Pink Diamond, before…" She made wild motions with her hands. "This! Happened."

"I know, but the purple one — Amethyst — was all over me, and…"

"You know what?" she said, squaring her thin shoulders. "It doesn't matter. I shouldn't even be bugged by this. You can clean this up while I go grab…" She stopped and stared at the two fighting Gems on the floor, then at Sapphire. "I'll go grab Pink Diamond, yes…"

With that, she closed the door. Greg could barely hear her running over the two Gems ready to burn down the estate. At least, the Ruby was ready to, with her square hair on fire.

"Can you calm down?" Greg asked, clenching his fist. He reached over and pulled the bucket out. "You guys got me into trouble, and all I did was be here!"

Amethyst turned to him and blinked. "Oh." She looked down and glared at Ruby. "Well, if Ruby didn't try shattering you…"

"We don't get shattered. We just get killed," he tried to explain, but Ruby pushed Amethyst off of her. She seemed much more calm. Well, at least less angry.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry." The flames started to die down in her hair. Far less angry.

What was with the sudden attitude change?

"I can help clean this up…" she said.

Greg didn't want to turn down the offer. He grabbed his shirt out of the puddle and wrung it out before sliding it back on. "It's alright, but I'd like the help."

Ruby threw some flames at the water in front of Greg, boiling it. "Be careful. You don't look to comfortable with heat." She threw more blasts of flames at the water until it was only a thin layer that Greg could mop up. There was still a thicker puddle of water, but it was slush next to Sapphire. She smiled lightly and stood up. Ruby threw another blast of flame at the floor where she was.

Greg braced himself for a flame, but the water only evaporated again. Steam now filled the room, and Greg couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed at his own clumsiness. "Sorry for the whole situation," he couldn't help saying. He was raised to be apologetic to everything. "If I wasn't here, you wouldn't have leaped at me."

Ruby laughed a bit, sending a flare up her arms. "It seems you aren't so hostile after all." She held a flaming hand out for a handshake. "Apology accepted."

Greg didn't take it for fear of burning his hand but nodded and grunted in agreement.

Then Pink Diamond came in. Her dress seemed different, but maybe Greg was just noticing it now. It split in the centre to allow her more leg space. It also made her look scarier… more powerful.

"They've reformed, I see?" she asked.

Greg and Sapphire nodded.

Pearl strutted out behind the Diamond and made motions at Amethyst and Ruby.

Even Greg felt his blood run cold.

Pink Diamond rubbed her chin and looked down at the scene in front of her. "You know what?" she asked. "I don't think you're too important right now."

Greg felt his chest loosen, and he sighed pent up breath.

"In fact, I think there's something that we need to do. All of us."

Greg looked behind Pink Diamond to see Pearl blanche even whiter than usual. "My Diamond, we have to interrogate them!" She cast a hateful glare at the two new Gems.

"But we don't," she said, holding her hand out and kneeling down. She seemed to stare right into all their mortified stares. "This is new to me, but more new things are coming."

Greg, Amethyst, and Ruby all tried to take the giant woman's hand at once. All their hands seemed to fit. She tightened her grip as best she could and stood up.

A grin seemed to curl her lips. "Come along. We've got something to do. All of us."


	11. Chapter 10

Pearl watched as Rose stepped out of the way at the bottom of the stairs. She motioned to the dining room, which was completely empty.

"This is the new training room," she said. She pointed to mannequins about Pearl's size.

Pearl stepped up, staring at the room. The others all stepped up and stood in a line in front Rose.

The room was massive with a high ceiling. There was Tiger's Eye, carrying the able over the shoulders. She leaned it against the wall and reached for her side. She dipped her fingers in a bucket and painted red circles over it.

She turned to see Pearl and huffed. She turned away quickly, smoothing down her veil.

"You," Rose said, pointing to the purple Gem. "You're a Quartz, right?"

She didn't respond, making an obscene hand signal.

Rose stood up taller, nonplussed. "As your new Diamond, I demand respect. What is your name?"

At this, the purple Gem seemed to shrink in her shoulders and look down at the ground. "Amethyst."

"Which Amethyst?" she asked.

The Ruby jumped in front of her. "She doesn't know. She emerged alone."

Rose narrowed her eyes, but nodded after a few seconds. "Well, an entire shipload of Quartzes are coming onto Earth in a few days. We need to differentiate her."

The Amethyst looked up at Rose. "The small one? I could just be Amethyst, right?" She gave a half-hearted laugh, and Pearl watched as Rose's face loosened.

"Of course."

Peridot leaned closer to Pearl. "I've never seen an overcooked Gem that had such… high… spirits."

Pearl stepped back into line, shushing Peridot.

"Fine. I'll just call you Amethyst. Ruby, do you still remember your name?" She pointed to Ruby and looked down at her.

Pearl heard the crackling of flames. "No. I'm the only one left, anyways," Ruby muttered. There was a pause. "My Diamond."

Rose tilted her head. "Which Diamond did you serve before Rubies were decommissioned?"

"Blue, Ma'am."

Pearl noticed the lack of a diamond on both the Gems' uniforms.

"I see. Well, you don't serve her anymore. Understood?" She sounded almost bitter after the mention of Blue Diamond, and Rose wondered what had happened between them recently.

Ruby nodded, her hands crackling with embarassment.

Pearl flinched as Rose gave a iron-black stare to Pearl. "Any Gems that have never summoned their weapons before, raise their hands."

Pearl raised hers meekly, shrinking under the unsurprised gazes of the others. She looked around to see that Peridot and the human never summoned theirs either.

"Well then," Rose said with a grin. She crossed her arms. "Tiger's Eye, would you train these Gems?" She turned to Sapphire. "I'm surprised that you've summoned a weapon before, Sapphire."

Pearl noticed Sapphire's cheeks turn dark blue. "I—I learned on Homeworld."

"I see then. Well, those who haven't got a weapon, head out." Rose pointed to a corner of the 'training room.'

Tiger's Eye strode to them, clapping her hands slowly. "So I've got you, now. A Pearl, a Peridot, and a human. Never thought I'd have to force a weapon from _this._ "

Pearl turned away, her cheeks turning to a sky blue. The human, Greg, interjected. "I'm not a Gem. You can't force a weapon from me."

She watched as he backed away, gripping his hair in his hands.

"None at all." Tiger's Eye stepped towards him, brow raised.

"Nope."

"Another reason why humans are the inferior race."

"I've got a list," Peridot offered. She lifted her arms and a screen popped out of her 'hand.' "First. They're too diverse. How would they—"

"Stop!" Tiger's Eye turned to Peridot.

"What?" Peridot stepped back and adjusted her visor. "How _would_ humans organize themselves?"

"No, no." The Tiger's Eye put on the most forced smile that Pearl had ever seen. (And that was saying something.) "You need to wean off of those fake arms."

Pearl turned to Peridot and saw her blanche. "What? No! My limb enhancers are very important to me and they hold all of my logs and lists and everything I need for—" She was muttering so fast that Pearl had to strain to catch each of her high-pitched words.

"But how are you going to use a weapon if you instinctively reach for your cannons? Because guess what?" The stripes running up and down her body glowed. "Those things are going to break." She poked the gemstone on Peridot's head hard enough that even Pearl flinched. "Your weapon's reliable. Got it?"

Peridot nodded quickly and over-enthusiastically. "Yes, Tiger's Eye." She blushed to a teal colour as she removed her limb enhancers. Her arms went first, and she hesitated at her legs. Pearl watched as she unclasped the strap around her knee and hopped down from them.

At that moment, Greg burst out laughing. "Oh my God!"

Peridot flushed until her face was splotchy blue. She was at least three feet shorter and was now the size of Ruby.

"We thought you were cyborgs or something. But glorified stilts? This is gold. Wait until I tell Mar—"

"Don't even think about it!" Peridot shouted. She reached for her arms like limb enhancers were still attatched to them. "Oh. Yeah."

"Human, lay off of Peridot," Rose shouted from the other side of the training room. She had her shield up. Pearl saw the Ruby leap at her, fast as lightning and use her shield as leverage. Pearl's legs tightened. She should be protecting Rose, even if she didn't have a weapon. "You haven't got a weapon yourself." Rose pushed with her shield, deflecting Ruby. "And good try. Try getting around my shield."

Pearl shuddered and noticed Tiger's Eye glaring at them grumpily. "Are you done?"

She nodded, noticing as Greg stepped back and Peridot saluted.

"Think about your Gem, like you're retreating back into it. Reach for it, and _Wham!_ Your weapon should be summoned." Tiger's Eye stepped back. "Peridot. You go first."

Peridot shook her head. "Pretending to poof isn't logical."

"Then do what you want. You can't use your cannons."

Pearl watched as Peridot cleared her breath and counted quietly. "One," she took a breath. "Two…"

Peridot, at Three, decided to take her visor off. Her eyes were closed now. "Four…"

Pearl watched, waited for Peridot to do anything. She didn't. Now she was at ten, and only then did her hands start to move. She flared out her fingers. "Eleven!" She squinted her eyes shut and expected to grab something from her Gem. Pearl looked into Peridot's open palms. Nothing came out of her Gem. There wasn't even a flash of light.

"That was disappointing." Peridot shook her hands. Pearl met her glance. "Let me try again!"

"One." Peridot's catlike lips pursed. "Two." This time, by Five, Peridot had dropped her visor. It disentegrated. "Three."

Tiger's Eye grinned at Pearl and Greg. She quickly pulled out her morning star and by Four was swinging towards Peridot's face.

"Fiv— Aaah!" Peridot reached for her limbs with one hand. Her hand got in Tiger's weapon's way, colliding then swinging in the completely wrong direction. "Ah!" she squealed.

Pearl stepped back, seeing how all of the finger's on Peridot's left hand hung limp.

She saw as Peridot blinked away tears, stepping back catlike from Tiger's Eye's next swing. She gritted her teeth, and with her right hand reached for her Gem. Peridot stepped on her visor, but didn't even wince. Pearl stared as there was a flash of light from Peridot's Gem.

Her hand pulled away and Pearl saw Tiger's Eye's weapon stop in its tracks. A ball-and-chain gripped the spikes tightly.

Tiger's Eye grinned right into Peridot's pained face. "Perfect."

Peridot squeaked as Tiger's Eye jerked her weapon-hand and pulled Peridot into the air. "We'll try again later."

Pearl knew exactly what was coming next, and could only hope that Tiger's Eye would turn to Greg.

"Pearl!"

Pearl flinched at Tiger's small boom. She backed away, gripping her veil tightly. "Yes?" She forced yet another smile.

"Now it's your turn." She pinched her brow. "Stars, never though that I'd be training a Pearl. Now come on. Let's see if you work like Peridot."

"Excuse me, Tiger's Eye," Pearl heard Greg say. "You just broke Peridot's hand. Isn't that…"

"She won't poof, she's fine." Tiger's Eye waved a hand. "Prepare your weapon, Pearl."

Fear struck Pearl, and her smile fell away quickly. She'd be forced to do this. She was a Pearl, designed to follow orders at the risk of shattering.

She wasn't able to summon a weapon. Pearls haven't been able to summon a weapon since the beginning of gemkind! She wasn't going to do it now. She looked around. Something had to be around that she could used. There was nothing on the wall. A few floorboards looked broken, like they were just waiting for something heavy to get on them so they could fall. Pearl'd use those.

She saw Tiger's Eye's muscles tighten. Her hand lifted. Pearl leaped out of the way instinctively from her blow. The morning star managed to graze her hair. Pearl breathed a sigh of relief. She then saw Tiger's Eye's surprised face. It quickly curled downward into a sneer of rage. Oh no.

Ther was another blow and Pearl seemed to dance out of the way. She ducked when the weapon neared her head, and leaped when it was aimed for her legs. She took a massive step backwards when the weapon was aimed for her chest.

She saw herself nearing the weakened boards. Another swing.

A few more steps…

Pearl felt sweat drip on her forehead as she was forced away from the boards.

"Summon your weapon already!" she heard Greg shout.

Pearl turned her head to see him hiding his face beneath his too-large hands.

Something crashed into Pearl's leg. She crumbled to the ground. She gasped in pain when she tried to stand up.

The whiteness of when she poofed before threatened the edge of her vision.

She rolled out of the way painfully when Tiger's Eye threw another blow downwards. "Summon your weapon, already!"

"But I can't!" she shouted back. "I'm just a—" She caught herself. No. She was not just a Pearl. She was certainly a Pearl, but not _just_ a Pearl.

The whiteness crept to the tops of her vision, until she could only see tunnels. No. If she wasn't going to summon her weapon, she was _not_ going to poof.

She rolled out of the way. THe whiteness stayed, getting larger with every jolt of pain. No!

She had to think of this as something she did every day.

A dance! Of course! She always had to dance for the other Diamonds' entertainments back at home.

A stab of bitterness panged her. She rolled elegantly, even when the morning star wasn't headed for her. She imagined Tiger's Eye's slit eyes to be like Yellow Diamond's, but darker.

She kept rolling. One two three, one two three…

She stopped rolling to take a breath. Only after the inhale did she realize her mistake. The morning star came barrelling down at her. The whiteness nearly took over her vision. She realized that fighting the poof would be useless. She was calm, focused, and still couldn't…

Or wait. She could summon her weapon.

She didn't remember what happened. In a flash, she felt a weight put on her arms, and then it stopped. Pearl could barely see through the whiteness.

But she could swear that she was holding a spear. And it had just stopped Tiger's Eye's attacks.


	12. Chapter 11

_AN: I_ _'m apologizing for my hiatuses by trying to post a new chapter every two days! :D_

Rose shook her head. "Wait a second, Gems." She waved a hand at Ruby, Amethyst, and Sapphire.

She noticed the smaller Gems nod.

Rose advanced on Tiger's Eye. "What was that all about?"

There was another flash of light, just like the one a few seconds before. Peridot had just retreated into her Gem.

"I was training them, my Diamond. They weren't fast enough."

Rose looked at the white Gemstone clattering on the floor. "You're not dealing with Quartzes, you're dealing with average Gems. You have to be…" Rose leaned down and picked up Pearl's Gem from the floor. "Gentle."

Tiger's Eye raised a brow. "Why would I do that? No disrespect of course, my Diamond."

Rose sighed. She tucked Pearl's Gem into her sash and reached down for Peridot's. She rubbed some dust that had already settled onto her Gem off and tucked it into the other side of her sash. "You would do it so that they become confident. Pearls and Peridots are highly cerebral. Their abilities are based off of their mindset." She turned to Tiger's Eye, her toes digging into the carpet. "And breaking their hands and legs before they can even fight doesn't exactly put them in a good mindset."

Tiger's Eye shrugged. "They weren't fast enough. Like I said."

Rose remembered exactly why she was promoted. Normal Quartzes were idiots! "You still don't get it, do you? All Gems are different. They've all got different ways to learn."

She nodded. "I've got that. I do it without a thought and that Peridot there did it through fear." She pointed to Peridot's Gem and then to Pearl's. "Stars know what caused the _Pearl_ to summon hers, though."

Rose quickly went through her memory. Pearl didn't look like she was doing anything that could summon her weapon before she fell. But when she rolled, it looked like Pearl was doing it rhythmically. It was almost like a dance.

"She was focusing," Rose said.

"Pearls don't focus. Have you seen them?"

Rose lowered her brows at her. "This one did."

Tiger's Eye nodded and pet the spiky braid at the back of her head. "It's safe to assume that she's the first, then, my Diamond." She lowered her gaze to Rose's feet.

"No need to do that," Rose said. She pushed Tiger's Eye's chin up-wards. "An apology is fine."

Tiger's Eye stiffened. "Sorry, Pink Diamond."

She was getting better. Rose still felt a twinge of guilt that Tiger's Eye was only doing it out of obedience, though. "It's alright." Rose put her weight on her other foot and noticed the jab of Pearl's gemstone in her side. She should get onto that. But she wasn't feeling ready to cry. She was more angry, and even then she was cooling down from that.

Rose noticed the cracked floorboards close to the two Quartzes. She got an idea. She 'wandered' in the direction of the floorboards, keeping a close eye on her human. He didn't seem to move. She took cautious steps until she felt one of the boards creak underneath her weight. She leaned extra hard on it, breaking it. She fell through painfully.

Okay, bad idea. Very bad idea. Rose picked herself up painfully. Her waist had collided with the other floorboards, which turned out not to be so weak. She brushed ancient sawdust off her dress and winced whenever she put pressure on her hips. "Shouldn't have done that," Rose said. She felt her eyes water. Perfect. She wiped her hands on her eyes, accidentally getting wood dust in them.

She blinked it out of her eyes, causing them to water harder. She pressed one hand, wet with tears, on Peridot's Gemstone. Immediately the triangular gem started to glow. Rose her hands out and let her gem rise. She looked like a Earthen cat being held from its stomach. Her hair sprouted out quickly and she fell to the ground even faster. She jumped up and dusted her uniform.

"Ow!" she shouted. "Or… not…" She waved her hand around. "What just happened?" She turned to Rose, and she gave a knowing grin.

Realization dawned on her face. "Oh! You have healing powers!"

Rose nodded. She rubbed Pearl's gem with her wet hand tenderly. Her gem flashed white, but dimmed down and didn't respond.

"Pearl?" Rose asked, dumbfounded.

There was no response, as she should have known.

"May I ask a question?" the human asked, raising a hand. Rose turned to him, gripping Pearl's gemstone tighter than she should.

Why should she let a human engage in these conversations? Rose stiffened, debating whether to let him speak or not. She was training them in case those Quartzes were hostile to Earth. But she was training the human too. She decided to let him speak. "Sure. Ask away, human."

"Greg, ma'am." He stopped and winced like he was expecting Rose to act hostilely to the correction. She wasn't. If the human was called Greg, she'd call him that. "Well, why isn't she reforming? Peridot did when you healed her…"

Rose looked down at her face reflected in Pearl's gem. "I don't… know…" She looked at Peridot. "Peridot, has this happened before?"

Peridot ran across the floor and picked up her right arm's enhancer. She slipped it on her arm. Her screen flickered on, and she stared through multiple screens before calling, "Nope!" to Rose.

Rose drew in a deep breath. If this wasn't normal, it had to because of Pearl's defectiveness. "Maybe I didn't heal her…"

Greg raised a hand again. "Maybe she doesn't want to come out?"

What a stupid idea! Rose laughed. "Why would she do that?"

Greg shrugged.

"Exactly," Tiger's Eye interrupted. "There's something wrong with her. I say we sha—"

"No!" Rose said, holding Pearl's Gem to her breast. Crud. She said that out loud. "No. I say what happens on this planet, and shattering Pearl would be a waste of time."

"Waste of time?" Tiger's Eye said. "I'd just punch her Gem. It'd only take one second and she'd be dead."

Rose shook her head. "No. We'll give her time to heal, just in case I didn't." The image of Pearl's remains on the floor terrified her. She only half-hoped it didn't show. "No," she sighed. She glanced out of the massive windows at the north end of the dining room. Bright midday sunlight shone through. She took another deep breath to calm her down.

Pearl was fine, she knew it. Rose turned to the Gems and human. "Training session dismissed." She turned around at Amethyst, Ruby, and Sapphire. "Training session dismissed! We'll continue tomorrow at dawn!"


	13. Chapter 12

Pearl woke up on a cushion in Rose's room. She jerked upright with a laugh. She'd done it! She'd summoned her weapon! Before she could say anything or at least do a celebratory leap, she noticed the room was dark. The only light was from the window, shining moonlight in. She could barely see a silhouette resting in the cushions and covers. Rose. Pearl got up as quietly as she could and stood over Rose for a second.

She looked so calm. Pearl couldn't help but admire Rose, how she looked radiant even in her sleep. She wished that she could wake her up and tell her that Rose had healed her, but she wanted to spend extra time in there.

How would Rose react to that? In another thought, what would Rose think about Pearl's… change?

She sat down next to Rose and waited. She tried to keep her breathing quiet so as not to wake her. Maybe Rose was already awake. Pearl half-hoped she was.

Pearl leaned back against the wall, stretching her legs out.

She watched Rose's closed door. She looked outside again. Earth's Moon, Luna, had half-risen. Usually Rose would be in a meeting with the Diamonds. "Then why isn't she with the Diamonds?" she asked without thinking.

"I don't need to." There was a mutter from beside Pearl. Pearl jumped only to realize it was Rose.

Pearl stared down at her, flustered. "You're awake?" But she'd done it every other night!

"Of course," she groaned from her pillow. "Are you alright?"

Pearl nodded. "Yeah." She clenched a fist on the floor, gripping one of the pillow's tassells hard enough to tear it. "Oh!"

Rose laughed tiredly. "Don't worry. It's just a pillow."

Pearl smiled. With Rose they never were forced. "I wasn't." Pearl stopped for a moment. "Why… don't you need to check in with the other Diamonds?"

There was a pause from Rose. "You've changed!" Rose sat up, her Gem lighting up to point a beam at Pearl.

Pearl stopped. Rose was dodging the question. It didn't matter that Pearl was wearing shorts and a shorter veil _now,_ did it? "Yes?"

"Is that why you didn't reform when I healed you?" Rose let out a sigh. "I was afraid I hadn't."

Pearl nodded. "That's exactly it."

"Why?" Rose asked, turning and placing an arm around Pearl.

Pearl felt her face heat up. "I was proud. I'm the — the first Pearl to summon a weapon." She felt her chest lighten. "I'm the first, ever."

But Rose had a reason for not going to the Diamond check-in. She felt her chest tighten again. "Why don't you have to meet with the Diamonds, though?"

Pearl saw Rose's face tighten then loosen in a wince. "I'll… I'll explain in the morning, Pearl." She leaned down into her bed of pillows. "Everyone's going to hear this."

She sank into her cushions and closed her eyes. Pearl didn't say anything else to her.

Why wasn't Rose telling her before the other Gems? Pearl took a deep breath, watching Rose as her breaths evened out. Pearl stared out the window. Morning was going to be a long wait.

"Pearl."

Pearl opened her eyes to see Rose holding her hands out. "You've been resting all morning. We're training now."

Pearl stood up, smacking her head against the wall. "Ack!" she said. She brushed her veil down, still surprised at how short it was. "Sorry, we should get going."

Rose rubbed Pearl's hand. "At your own pace, Pearl."

Pearl looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching over each other. "I don't want to keep the others waiting. We should go quickly." Pearl stretched her legs to gain balance and started running. She stopped when Rose wasn't in the lead, or even following. "Rose?"

She saw Rose's fingers knit over her gown. "It's nothing. Go on."

Pearl narrowed her gaze. Was this related to the Diamond meeting?

It seemed like Rose read her mind. "No, it isn't about that. I'll be there in a minute."

Pearl gave a hesitant glance out the door and released her breath. She opened the ancient wood door and closed it behind her. Soundlessly she ran through the hall into the foyer. She skidded to a halt and found the stairs. She ran up it again to see the training room. It was different this time. The mannequins were gone, replaced with flipped over tables painted with targets.

What was going on now? Pearl noticed that nobody was in the room with her. She was the first one here, then? Pearl clapped her hands and they each grasped each other.

The others came up in a single file. Tiger's Eye was in the lead, while Rose took up the back. Pearl stared in dumbfounded silence as Rose waited for the others to find a position.

This was as strange as when Rose wanted to keep this Earth alive. What was wrong with Rose?

Pearl watched as Rose motioned for Pearl to come over. Pearl noticed Peridot staring at her. She blushed blue and turned away.

"This is new!" Peridot sat closer to Pearl. "How did you change your uniform? I've never seen anything like this!" She glanced at a screen already popping up on her arm. "Apparently, none of the records have either!" She leaned in close to Pearl, and Pearl tried to inch away.

"I just wanted to stay in my Gem for longer," Pearl said tensely. She noticed that starstruck gaze in Peridot's eyes and smiled. She'd never felt important before. How was a Peridot… idolizing… her? "Maybe you could do it, too." Pearl couldn't help it. She had to say something to make the Peridot feel somewhat better. Or was it to lower Pearl down to Peridot's level? She didn't know.

Tiger's Eye cracked her knuckles. "What are we doing today, Rose?"

Pearl looked over to Rose to see a guilty look on her face. "We're… sparring."

Amethyst raised her hand. "We sparred yesterday," Amethyst said. "We could try to do something else?"

Rose shook her head. "No. There's an even number, so we'll be fine."

Pearl watched as Greg reached for his ridiculously long hair and tugged at a few knots in it.

"I still don't have a weapon," Greg said weakly.

Rose turned to him. "Don't worry. We'll get you a mace."

Greg stared in wonder, then shook the expression off his face. "Yes, ma'am."

Rose looked down at him. "Call me…" she hesitated, and Pearl was afraid that she'd ask him to call her Rose. "Pink Diamond. Or my Diamond."

Greg stared dumbfounded. "My Diamond is a gem thing, though, right?"

Rose nodded. "And I name you an honourary Gem until we leave or you die."

"That's a bleak concept… my Diamond… but thank you."

"You're welcome." Rose put her hand to her chest and bowed ever so lightly. "Now for who'll be with who." Rose seemed to be doing some thinking. "Ruby and Sapphire, you two will be fighting. It only seems fitting given your weapons."

Peridot leaned into Pearl. "They've both got gauntlets. How cool is that?"

That was pretty cool, Pearl had to admit.

"Tiger's Eye and Amethyst, you two will go against one another." Pearl noticed that her feet were digging into a new red carpet. "I'll go against Peridot. No, you can't use your limb enhancers. And finally…"

Pearl knew exactly what was coming, and she hated it already. It was going to be the human that already knew too much. He'd be investigating her every single move, trying to gain more leverage against her. Her face started burning.

"Pearl and Greg, you two will fight."

Pearl felt her face falling farther than her feet. She couldn't actually be fighting _him._

"Now," Rose clapped her hands, sending echoes through the training room. "Get into your positions. Fight whenever you want to."

Pearl narrowed her eyes at Greg. He, on the other hand, clapped once. "Alrighty then, Pearl. Shall we?"

Pearl tried to act confident, she really did. She looked more like a newly-emerged Peridot. "Fine," she said through gritted teeth. Oh how she hated this human.

* * *

Pearl leaped back just as Rose shouted to stop. She skidded backward on the floor and some hair fell into her face. Greg lowered his mace and dropped it immediately.

She stood tall and placed the tip of her spear on the ground. Odd how in such a short time, she'd grown so synchronized with it. She lowered her gaze at Greg and noticed the sweat dripping off of his skin.

How disgusting.

Greg stood up taller and stretched out his back. He then placed a hand on his cheek and stared at it. Pearl'd certainly won this one. She'd managed to scratch him, but not injure him. Just like Rose said.

"Well, then." He rubbed the blood onto his pants. "You're really good at fighting." He then grinned, one that chilled Pearl's skin. "Especially for a Pearl. You're sure there isn't something…" He shrugged, like he wasn't just defeated in the spar. "Oh, I don't know, _different,_ about you?"

Pearl backed away. "I don't know what you mean." She knew she was supposed to sound calm, but if Greg was being louder about her defectiveness, then it surely wasn't going to be good.

"Sure," he said quietly.

Pearl took another step back, instinctively raising her spear tip off the ground. She glanced back at Rose, a silent plea for help.

"Greg, please, we're done fighting." Pearl heard Rose's heavy footsteps and her shoulders fell slack. "Is everyone else alright?"

Pearl noticed the bruises up and down Rose's arms and the great violet bruise crawling down her forehead. There weren't any wounds on her cheeks though. Pearl's hands clenched around her spear. What had that Peridot done to her?

Amethyst was the first to turn. "Yeah! We couldn't lay a spike on each-other!"

That was a lie. There were punctures up and down any exposed part of their bodies. Pearl grimaced. How were Amethyst and Tiger's Eye both smiling?

Pearl noticed the whip hanging from Amethyst's hand. It was barbed with what looked like violet knives.

"Good. Give yourselves some time to heal. We'll keep our partners for three days so we know their fighting styles full well." Pearl knew Greg's style full well. Swing around wildly and hope he hit her. Pearl hadn't been fighting for more than a day and knew that was a laughable fighting style. But she was sure that she hadn't been perfect herself.

Rose wiped her bruised forehead. "And that's all for today. Greg, find yourself some food."

Pearl furrowed her brows. But Rose had said that she was going to be telling them why she hadn't been speaking to the diamonds. She ran to Rose.

She hesitated a second before standing on her toes to tap her shoulders.

Rose turned down to her, her face lightening.

"You were going to talk to us about why you weren't speaking with the Diamonds," Pearl muttered, not caring if the other Gems heard.

While Rose was thinking about her question, Pearl turned around. The others were already starting to leave.

"Wait!" Rose shouted from behind Pearl. "I need to say something, first." Pearl turned to see Rose pointing at a newly-installed bench against a wall. She stepped onto it, crouching birdlike on it. She tried compacting herself further as Sapphire sat next to her, freezing her right side. Tiger's Eye took her left side. Pearl felt plain squished, but didn't dare complain.

"I've been meeting the Diamonds every night," Rose said, gripping her arms.

Pearl already knew this, but noticed Amethyst throwing a knowing glance at Ruby.

"Last night, Blue Diamond informed me that she was sending over an entire shipload of dangerous and defective Quartzes." Pearl winced that the word Defective. "In my view, that's an act of war. And because it takes a vote to remove a Diamond…"

"Remove a Diamond? You mean shatter?" Ruby asked.

"No." Rose whirled to face Ruby, who hadn't yet sat down. "Diamonds aren't actually diamonds. Diamond is a title."

Amethyst's mouth gaped open. "That's why you looked so much like a Quartz!" she said. She then paused. "… Are you a Quartz?"

Pearl watched Rose, wondering if she'd reveal her name. It took a century of knowing Rose before she told Pearl that Diamonds were a title. Another ten years before she knew Rose's actual name.

She watched as Rose's hands clenched and unclenched. "Yes." She stepped back and held her hands out. "And because you need to vote to remove a Diamond's title, I've decided to step down from my position."

Pearl crunched even tighter into her crouch. _What?_ Why would Rose even…?

"I've cut off all communications with the Diamond since Blue told me about the shipment. And because I'm no longer a Diamond, you should call me by my real name. Rose Quartz."

Pearl dug her nails into her veil, feeling the familiar give of fabric tearing. She was actually doing this. Rose remembered the threat that they were going to remove Rose's title back when Earth was being discussed as a colony. This time, _over Earth_ , she was voluntarily losing her diamond status.

Greg seemed stupefied, knowing absolutely nothing about Gems. Of course he wouldn't.

"So what now?" Peridot asked.

Pearl noticed Greg's face brighten. She saw his hands tap eagerly on his chair. Pearl knew what he was expecting.

Apparently Rose was thinking the same. "It's your planet, isn't it?" Rose stepped closer to him, an amused smile on her face. "Let's see what Earth likes with humans. Free humans."

* * *

 _AN: So I'd like to apologize for the wait. I am literal crud at keeping deadlines. Anyway, I'm going to point out that I've got a tumlr. Shoot me any questions, theories, or any fun stuff about FYE over there at .com :)_


	14. Chapter 13

Greg stood at the top of Seaglass Estate's hill. The morning wind blew through his hair, making him taste and smell salt. He shook his head.

Nothing was out here. What was he going to be seeing up here? He could barely see an ancient, dead-looking canyon on the horizon. Maybe he should just give up.

But what if there was something else out here? He couldn't see anything past the fields. He turned around. Or wait. The endless grass thinned out to reveal sand way out on the other side. That explained the salty smell.

Greg remembered the stories his father told him. How his friends covered for him so that he could walk up and down beaches.

 _And where there are beaches, there are caves._

Of course! But where was he going to get to a beach within the next week? He'd have to ask the Gems. Pink Dia— Rose Quartz seemed like she wanted to help.

At even the thought of her, Greg's stomach lightened. She'd actually promised it. She'd said that the humans would be free. How he wished to tell the others, but they were in a complex a hundred miles away.

Greg sat down, digging his hands into the soft earth. He'd never been allowed to rest like this. He'd either been working in the mines, far underground or serving a Gem's every whim.

In a way, he was doing it now. He was asked to look for a new base, and here he was doing it. But she asked politely, Rose Quartz did. She said it was fine if he didn't want to, and Greg usually didn't. But this time he actually wanted to do this. He didn't know whether or not he wanted to do this for Rose Quartz or her new movement. But following through with this would mean a better planet.

And it would get Heliotrope and _everyone else_ gone. He imagined walking into old human ruins and learning all that had been taken away from them. His hands started to tear up the grass. He could see him and Marty taking over the settlement and calling it their own. They'd rebuild all the settlements. They'd reclaim Earth.

His hands started to get cold from the moist soil, so he took them out of it and rubbed them on his pants.

Well, his thoughts prodded, he'd found a base, or at least an idea for one, so he'd better tell the Gems. He ran his way down the hill, now enjoying the feeling of headed back to them. The wind flew through his hair. His feet were almost moving too fast for him to see. He gave a small laugh. He should try running faster. He did, lengthening his stride until he tumbled.

Greg gasped as he fell and rolled. But it didn't hurt. He just kicked up dirt with every rotation. He slowed to a halt at the bottom.

Once he shook the dizziness out of his head he brushed his pants off and stood up. He hoped there were caves by the ocean.

Shaking his head to get the last of the dizziness out, he ran up the steps to Seaglass Estate, knocking on the door.

"Come on, human!" the high-pitched squeak of Peridot called to him. "We know it's you."

Greg nodded and opened the door. There was the Peridot to greet him. "Have you found a good place?"

Shaking his head, he put his hands in his pocket. "Well, no. But I've got an idea."

"An idea," she mirrored, unimpressed. "That's useful."

Greg sighed. "Can I talk to Pink — Rose Quartz?"

"She's upstairs, destroying valuable tech," Peridot said. "A diamond line! Can you imagine wrecking _that?_ "

Greg had no idea what a 'diamond line' was, but he feigned a smile and nodded. "No, I can't."

"Well, look for the wires. That's where she is." Peridot pointed up the stairs. "Go on, tell her your _idea._ "

Greg huffed involuntarily and nodded. He ran up the stairs, glancing at the holes in the wall. A door was held ajar by Pearl, who was stabbing the tip of her spear into the walls and dipping her head in.

He remembered feeling like he was going to die whenever Pearl's spear touched him.

She turned to Greg and he had to close his eyes from a sudden blast of light.

"Sorry about th— Nevermind." Pearl narrowed her eyes at Greg. "Are you looking for Rose?"

Rose? Why would Pearl be calling her that? "I guess so…"

"There aren't any trackers in the wall, Rose!" she called, turning into the direction of the room. "And she's in there." She flicked her head before pushing another hole in the wall.

Greg nodded and went into the room. Rose Quartz was kneeling under the table, her hands feeling around the underside.

"Ah, Greg!" Rose Quartz said. She pulled herself out from under the table, sliding it in the opposite direction as she went. "Have you found a base?"

Greg shook his head again, rubbing his forearms. "No. But I've got an idea?"

Rose sat up and removed a pair of green-tinted goggles from her face. "Well, let's hear it."

She seemed to be in such good spirits, and Greg couldn't help but agree. "Well, how about the seaside?"

Rose Quartz blinked. "Beaches are in plain sight though, if the Diamonds — Blue especially — come searching…"

"No, my father." Greg stopped himself. He really didn't want to tell a Gem that his father was breaking the rules. But would Rose Quartz care? Probably not. "My father went exploring the beach sometimes. He said there were caves everywhere. Maybe we could use them, Miss Rose Quartz."

Rose Quartz nodded, a grin growing at the edge of her full lips. "We'll check it as soon as possible."

Greg stepped back, hitting his back on the wall. "Really? Why so soon?"

"Why not?" Rose asked. "We need to liberate Earth as soon as possible, and we need a base first. How about tonight?"

Greg nodded, not knowing what else to do. "Yes, we can do that. Should we bring Peridot or Ruby?"

Rose shook her head, an enthusiastic grin spreading. "No. Just you and me, how about?"

Greg tried taking a backwards step but his heel only hit the wall. "Er, sure, ma'am!"

"I swear nothing's going to be recording us — What?" There was a clatter as a spear fell to the floor and Pearl stared in. "You can't go —"

"Without you?" Rose Quartz asked. "Well, I can't leave the house to Tiger's Eye and Ruby, can I?"

Pearl shook her head. "Well, I guess not…"

"Then it's settled."

Greg swore he could see Pearl glare venom at him.

"Tonight, meet me at the Estate's stairs. Until then, do what you can to help out. Okay?" Rose's smile was growing.

"Understood, miss Rose Quartz." Greg saluted, crossing his hands but trying not to make the diamond sign.

Rose Quartz put her hand up, like he was silencing him. "I know I asked to be called Rose Quartz, but…" She laughed a bit at herself, wiping sawdust off of her brow. "I think it's best you call me Rose."

AN: Happy Camp Nano! Expect more updates! :)


	15. Chapter 14

Greg sat down at the steps of the estate, holding his chin in his hands. It was raining outside and Greg was happy that the humans who'd made the house put a sort of mini-roof above the stairs.

He turned around, glancing back at the door. Nothing there. Rose didn't appear to be showing.

But why wouldn't she? He heaved a sigh and put his hands on the cold marble steps.

Finally, there was a creak. Greg turned again to see Rose's tall figure. She had a translucent shield over her head. Already prepared for the weather.

"I'm sorry I took so long. There was a bit of a fiasco." Rose stepped down to Greg and he felt his shoulders lighten despite the cold. She held out her hand.

"What about?" Greg asked, taking her huge hand. He almost felt stronger.

"Amethyst and Sapphire were fighting. Can you believe that?"

Greg shook his head, thinking of how calm and collected Sapphire was. Not to mention that Amethyst was just a relatively bubbly Gem. "No, actually. I can't."

"Same here." Rose stopped in her tracks. "I think the hover's at the top of the cliff." She squinted, staring up the cliff where stairs came out. "Yeah, it's still parked up there."

Greg tried looking up, but didn't see anything. He followed Rose as she pressed her palm on a pad in the stone. Stairs slid out, loudly grinding on other pebbles and dust.

Rose held his hand as she walked on the outside edge of the steps. Greg, on the inside, had to make extra long strides to keep pace with her.

Back at home, he and Marty were pretty much the tallest guys at the complex.

At the top Rose stopped and looked around for the hover that took them here. Greg took a second to look down at the estate. The tiles were torn off after a hundred years of wear. Vines grew up the walls and the entire place seemed abandoned. The only thing that gave it away as in use was the constant conversation and work that went on inside the place. Come to think of it, the entire place had been torn apart in the last day.

"Greg, are you coming!" Greg turned around to see Rose at the hover. He brushed his hair back. She was patting her hand on the seat next to her.

Greg nodded and ran to the hover. He opened the door and shuffled in awkwardly. He'd never been in a hover's passenger seat before. He could see all around him. The still night had made the landscape completely different. There was no wind, making the long grass still sheets on the prairie. They looked desaturated and blue, like the rest of the night.

Come to think of it, this was the first time he'd ever seen a nighttime. His Gems had all kept him inside at night and the complex had no windows. He was one of the day-shift miners, as well.

"Are you alright?"

Greg turned to see Rose and he glanced down at his feet kicking the front panel of the hovercraft. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Rose put a hand on his shoulder, driving with her left hand. "What's it like, back at the...?"

"Complexes?"

"Yeah." Rose was staring out over her windshield.

He really didn't want to talk about it. He clenched his fists and shut his mouth.

"Is it really that bad?"

Really that bad? Now she was interested! Greg felt a sudden burst of anger. "They kill you when you turn 60!"

There was silence. "Do they treat you well? For how short you live?"

Greg lowered his head into his shoulders. "No."

There was another pause. "How so? What're your days like?"

He didn't want to say. Not at all. He only looked out over the windshield. It sure smelled like salt. He hoped they'd get there soon.

"No, please. The outside Gems still consider me a Diamond. Maybe I could use the power."

Maybe she could. Then at least they could have better conditions until they were free. And it was better than using force to free them. Right? "Well, the first thing we do when we wake up is eat breakfast. It's portioned small enough for us to live. Then they send us off to the mines. until the sun starts to go down. Then,the Gems get whatever punishment they have in mind done in public. That lasts nearly an hour. Then they send us to sleep. The cycle continues." He stared at Rose and her ringlets flying behind her in the wind. "Such a great day, right?"

Rose turned to him, slowing the car down. "I thought they rounded you up. I didn't know they were... mining?" Rose stared out at the field thinning away to sand. "What are they mining you for?"

Greg shrugged. "They just want us to hollow stuff out." Why would Rose be concerned that humans are being forced to mine?

"Then what?" she pressed.

"Some Peridots or whatever Heliotrope's got bring some stuff into the tunnels." It all looked really technical. Gem Stuff that Greg - or any human - really didn't want to deal with.

"What?" She slammed her feet on the brakes and Greg lurched forwards.

"I don't know what they are!" he defended.

"I do," Rose said coolly. She started the hover's engines again and kept going. They were going at a much slower pace than before.

What were they than? He wanted to ask her, just so that he could know, but he didn't want to ask. He never really wanted to ask.

After a few minutes, Rose stopped at the top of another hill. Greg hopped out of the hover and opened the door out of politeness for her. They didn't make eye contact. "So I guess we're at the beach?"

"Yeah," Rose said. "Guess we are."

* * *

Rose left the hover, stepping down quietly and hoping that no other Gems were around. Of course there are, her thoughts told her. It's just her and the human.

Greg had his rear over the cliff, and was clambering for a foothold. He grunted as he found one. Rose's heart lurched as she saw him dip below the cliff's edge. "Are you alright?" She called, running to the edge of the cliff. She saw him looking strained as he clambered for another.

"Yeah, I'm good. Ack!" He fell down and caught both hands on two different holds. He dangled for a second until he put his feet in cracks that lined the caves.

"It's dangerous, don't you think?" Rose asked, noticing the holes up and down the entire cave.

"Not really. My Dad told me about the birds nests. They just dig a hole in the dirt — er, stone — and leave after the spring."

Spring? Rose leaned over and noticed how far down Greg was already. His muscles were tense. "When's Spring?"

Greg huffed in disbelief. "There's four seasons. Summer, which in my opinion is the best season, is the hottest. Then there's Autumn. Dad said that's when all the leaves fall. From the trees, that is."

Rose nodded and looked for a place she could climb down herself.

"If you want to start climbing, you can look for the abandoned nests."

"Sure." Rose hung over the edge before finding a foothold and digging into it.

How could they still be doing that? Rose cursed herself as she leaped down and dug her fingers into more bird-nests. They were literally creating more kindergartens under her nose!

But why would they send her to Earth if they knew they were deliberately going against the consensus? Rose growled as she hopped down another six feet. She snuck a glance up at Greg to see if he was doing alright.

To laugh at her, that was why. She climbed down with the speed of a spider. Her dress split at the centre so that she could move easier. That was right. To the other Diamonds, her becoming Homeworld's leader was some sort of joke.

She leaped down and willed herself to float for just a second to cushion her landing. She hit the sand and dug her toes into it. Greg was about halfway down, carefully looking for his next hold.

The dirt fell away from Greg's right hand and his hand flew out for a second. He swung it back into place, this time not in a bird-hole. His hands dug into the soft earth and he kept climbing down.

And who would be the one to think up this joke?

Rose didn't need a second to think. Blue. Lazuli was at the helm of this one. Yellow — Titanite was at the head of infrastructure though. So the both of them knew about it.

But why would they get humans to do this?

Of course. Rose narrowed her eyes at nothing in particular. Humans were disposable. There obviously weren't any drills that could protect a gem if there ever was an accident. Rose didn't know much about humans, but it took less than 10 years to have a human fully ready to work, if they were thinking like that.

There was a huff as Greg hit the ground and got up. "Sorry I took so long. Shall we?" He held his arm out bent. Rose bent her hand around it.

"Sure." She followed him as he followed the cliff face. Rose noticed tiny cracks in the cliffs. She knew that some would open up into caves once they could get through them, but most were nothing more than cracks and abandoned bird-nests.

The tide was high under the moonlight, the water lapping at Rose's feet every other step. There was none of this on Homeworld. The only water at all was on the cups on Lazuli's back. And even then, she had to take that from some other planet.

Rose remembered when she first saw all the blue on the planet and thought it was some other sort of life form. She'd been so amazed to see that was all water.

What kind of power would Blue Diamond have on this planet?

She shuddered. She only had the power to control plants, which even then no longer existed on Homeworld. Water? On a planet like this? Lazuli would hold all the power.

Rose stubbed her toe on a rock but it didn't hurt. If Lazuli decided to take the fight to Homeworld, she would destroy them in battle. She glanced at Greg, who was humming while staring at the cliff face.

Lazuli would destroy anybody who wasn't beneath Rose's shield.

She shook her head. She'd have to get those thoughts out of her head until she needed to think them. For now, she was just looking for a base with the co-head of the rebellion.

Greg stopped, and Rose didn't realize until she accidentally tugged hard at his arm. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at a relatively massive hole in the wall.

Rose found herself staring at it as well. There were crystals hanging from the rock walls, shining multiple colours in the moonlight.

"It's a really... really..." Rose found herself walking towards it. "Nice cave." She dipper her head in and glanced around. Her Gem automatically brightened, sending a pink beam through the cave. It was small, but there was just enough space to start up. Maybe Peridot could carve it out some more. Or at least survey it. "What do you think?" Rose turned out of the cave and leaned against the entrance.

"It's really beautiful," he said.

Rose looked at it again. She certainly couldn't disagree. The crystals... they weren't Gems, but she'd heard of them. She'd seen doors that acted more as portals that reacted to whatever Gem was touching them. She'd seen the crystals only once before, on another planet on the opposite side of the Gem empire.

"Think this is the right cave?" Greg asked.

It was ideal, if these were the crystals that Rose was thinking about. If she touched it, she should be able to figure out. She rested her palm on the closest and watched it glow bright pink. Rose had to shield her eyes.

They most certainly were, and in such a large quantity.

Rose nodded, feeling a grin crack on her lips. "It's perfect!" She realized that Greg hadn't taken a look. "Come on, see for yourself." She waved him closer, but Greg didn't hesitate. He hopped up on a rock and looked inside.

"Wow."

"I know, right?" Rose asked.

She saw Greg's head bob, his hair going with him. "Whoa!" he shouted as he lost grip with one hand.

Rose reached out to catch him, but it was too late. He landed with a splash.

So there was even water in the cave? She leaned in to see it, her Gem flashing on Greg, neck deep in water.

"I can't swim!" he called. "A little help?" She saw him reach for a wall to grip onto.

She reached over quickly and pulled him up by the arm. "We're going to have to fill that in, won't we?"

Greg laughed as Rose dropped him on the wet sand in front of the cave. "No, not really. It's just high tide, I guess?"

He seemed to question himself as he said it, and Rose couldn't help but do the same. "Ah. Well, Dad said that sometimes, the sea comes into the beach. That's what..." he motioned inside the cave. "That was. In the morning, the tide'll go down and back into the sea."

Rose watched his hands as they made swaying motions back into the see. She laughed. How weird humans were.

She saw Greg turn his back to her and stare out at the sea. "Have you ever seen the ocean? Or at least, an ocean?"

Rose furrowed her brow, taken aback by the question. She knew the answer immediately, though. "No. Never."

Greg looked back at her, and she noticed his eyes were black just like hers. "Have any Gems, ever?"

Rose had to think for this one. "Well, I think only the Gems on Earth have." She sat down next to Greg.

He turned to her. "There aren't any planets with oceans? Not even seas?"

Rose shook her head. "None that we know of. The only other Gem that's seen water is Blue Diamond."

She watched as Greg purse his lips and thought. He said nothing though.

Finally, after what felt like minutes, he asked, "So Earth's unique?"

Unique? She'd never heard of that word. "Unique? That's a human word, isn't it?"

Greg stared at her. "How...?" He stopped. "It means we're different. Not like anything else..."

She'd never thought of anything like that. She doubted any other Gem had. "Yeah. I guess so." She smiled. "Earth's unique, for sure."

She remembered being angry at the other Diamonds for even wanting to make Earth a colony. Now she remembered why. But now, she had even more reasons to love Earth.

She felt Greg's hand on hers, and Rose's heart lifted.

"After this rebellion, what are you going to do?" Greg asked finally.

Rose turned to stare in his black eyes. She didn't know. She couldn't leave to another planet, but she promised to give Earth back to Greg. She pulled her gaze away from Greg's and looked at the reddish-gold sand. "I don't know." She took her hand away from Greg's and put it on her lap.

They sat in silence again. Was it always so quiet at night?

"We should go back," Rose said finally. Greg was a human, and needed his rest. She quickly learned that after the first day.

She caught a suspicious glance from Greg as he stood up. "Yeah. We should." So the two of them walked on the beach again.

Rose noticed that the ocean did seem further from them as they walked back to the cliff covered with holes. She stared up at it. It seemed like a much shorter fall when she was climbing down. Now, it looked like a big climb for a human.

With one glance at Greg, he felt the same. "How do we get up?"

Rose looked up. "I could jump with you in my arms."

He was certainly small enough. He was about a few inches taller than Pearl.

He tilted his head. "I don't know..." he said. "Sure, I guess?" He stood up tall.

"Alright. If you're afraid, I bet I can find a different way."

"No, it's fine. Let's jump up."

Rose nodded and picked him up. She crouched down and leaped up. She just about missed the top, but she quickly threw Greg on the top of the cliff so she could climb up herself.

What greeted her was a rather interesting sight. Investigating the hover were two Quartz Gems. One was black with green and read patches up and down her arms, face, and chest. She saw Greg freeze up in fear. The other was yellow-orange with red stripes lining her arms and face. Both had the blue diamond signal on their chest and back. This made Rose freeze up in fear.

The Gems stopped at the sight of Rose and Greg. The black one, who Rose recognized to be a heliotrope, got out of the hover and knelt. "Pink Diamond!" she shouted. "We're sorry, we didn't know this was your hover!"

Greg backed away from the Heliotrope until she was at Rose's side. His face was white, cold sweat dripping from it. "Rose... That's Heliotrope."

Rose glanced down at him, finding her own brow wet. "There are many Heliotropes. It's probably not the Heliotrope you know."

"It's alright," she said to the Heliotrope kneeling in front of her. "Are there more of you, though?"

The Heliotrope seemed dumbfounded. "Of course. Why would you ask?"

"Because I wasn't informed a new shipment of Quartzes was coming onto Earth," she said evenly. "Can you and your..." she paused to identify the other Gem as a Jasper, "Jasper... come along with us to Seaglass Estate? I have some things to ask you."

"Of course, my Diamond," the Jasper said. She crawled in the back of the hover. "I'll have to alert our commander."

Rose's heart stopped. "No. As a Diamond, I command you to stay quiet."

The Jasper's face scrunched into one of confusion. "Alright, then…"

"Good." She waved for Greg to go in the passenger seat. "Let's go."


	16. Chapter 15

Ruby stared out the window beside Pearl. Pearl'd asked her to watch out with her, but what was going to be outside anyway? Sure as heck it wouldn't be Quartzes. Well, besides Rose.

She sat down and turned away from the window. "Why do you even want me?" Ruby asked for the umpteenth time. "This is taking forever too." She stamped her foot against the floor and noticed the scorch marks up and down it.

Pearl stared down at her. "I'm a Pearl, what do you expect me to do?"

Ruby suspiciously glared at her. She certainly seemed to be doing quite a bit. Doing special investigations for Rose, figuring out how to summon her weapon in seconds… She had a mind. She just wasn't letting it on.

"Put that out!" Pearl said and Ruby felt her hair getting pushed down like it was getting hit. Oh. She was on fire, wasn't she?

In the kindergarten, this wasn't a problem. She had to make a conscious effort to put out her flame. Wait. She'd just put her hand in flame. "See? As a Pearl who can put her hand in fire, I think you're fine to look after yourself!" she growled and pushed away from the wall. She turned back to notice the scorch-marks on the wall, parts of it peeled back enough to show blackened wood frame.

Pearl held her hands out like she was going to lay down a point. There she was again, trying to hide that she wanted to be superior. It got annoying after a bit. Rose made it clear she wasn't going to shatter anyone for not doing their job right. Sapphire told her how she'd spared her, and this was before she wanted everyone to call her Rose.

"Look. I don't really think that I need help. I just think you're spending too much time with them."

Ruby started. "Why's that a problem?"

Pearl pursed her lips and looked down at Ruby. "Well, it's, um…" She made motions with her hand, which included a less than graceful display of them getting smashed together.

Fusion? Ruby almost wanted to laugh. "Oh, how do I tell you?"

"You've already fused with them?"

Ruby shrugged. "Well, Amethyst and I have." She also really wanted to fuse with Sapphire, but wasn't going to let that on. "I tell you, Pyrope's quite the personality. She's really fun." She sighed dramatically and just wanted to see the disgusted look on Pearl's face.

It certainly came up, but only for a second. "You're lying."

"What?" Well, she was, but how did Pearl know?

"Well, you aren't burning a hole through the wall. So there's no feeling in that," she pointed out, patting Ruby's head patronizingly. She felt her back stiffen.

"So? Pyrope's real, I tell you!" She stood up taller and stared at Pearl. She looked smug for a second until orange light reflected off her face. Then it turned into recognition.

"So you're not lying… but there's no feeling when talking about Pyrope. That must mean…" Her face downturned so fast, Ruby was surprised Pearl didn't sink into the ground. "You're _disgusting!"_ she shouted, her face blue.

Rose wiggled her eyebrows. God, this was funny. "Yep. Amethyst and I fused _soon_ often." She said. She looked up at Pearl. Now for something to really make her squirm. "I know who you'd like to fuse with…" She grinned even more than she was already. Her red skin was feeling warm. " _Rose Quartz._ "

Pearl started, standing back. If it was possible, she blushed harder. "I would never!"

Ruby wiggled her brows over-dramatically. "Come on. You've been her Pearl for who knows how long…" She sniffed loudly, taking in the smell of smoke. She didn't really care, but sat up so she didn't set the manor on fire. "I smell romance."

"I smell smoke. Put that fire out before I throw water on you." She turned to Ruby and grinned. "Or throw Sapphire on you." She stopped dramatically and put a hand to her mouth. "No, you'd like that," she sneered. She then stared out the window like nothing happened.

Ruby spattered at the barbed comment. She'd caught on fast, Pearl had. She grinned and punched Pearl's leg playfully. "You done good!" she said.

Pearl rubbed her leg nervously, like she was checking for burns. "I was just joking," she muttered.

"It doesn't matter. I knew you had it in you." She didn't really. She was actually quite surprised.

"Had… what? Humour?"

"Aw, don't go sounding like Peridot," she said. "And yeah. You've got humour."

There was a silence. "Well, thank you."

Ruby didn't hear any more crackling from her. "You're welcome." After a moment, she stood up next to Pearl. The night was nice, she had to say. It was a calm time of day, and was the time where Ruby and Amethyst would do all their raids.

"You're the first ones that caught us, you know," she found herself saying as she crossed her arms on the window pane.

Pearl looked down at her. "Really?"

"Yeah. Sapphire caught us taking some stuff." She stopped, realizing that she was pretty much admitting to stealing from them. "And then…" She shrugged. "I don't know what happened…" She really didn't.

"You took Sapphire," Pearl said dryly.

Ruby tilted her head and raised her brows. "Yeah. Like I said, didn't know what was thinking."

"You said you didn't know what you were doing…" Pearl nudged Ruby, and she nearly stumbled off the pane.

She grinned. "Well, you know what I mean!"

They looked out the window, Ruby watching the golden grass. She remembered hearing it called wheat. It seemed to have no use, though. Not to mention that it looked more grassy than… Wheat-y.

"So," Pearl began. Ruby met her gaze. "Why do you steal stuff?"

Ruby shrugged. It was just a sort of given between her and Amethyst. Suppose the both of them just wanted… "Comfort," Ruby said at last. "We feel stronger surrounded by our own things." Maybe that was why Gems took over planet. _They feel stronger knowing that they have things that they took for themselves._

She kept that sentiment to herself.

"What's…" Pearl glanced out, then back at Ruby. "They must be back!"

"The hover should be coming in on the opposite side of the house."

Pearl shook her head. "But they'll be coming through the door on this side." She pointed down. "There they are, see?"

Ruby nodded. "I see that. Sure." She looked down at where… four… silhouettes were walking. "Who are the others, though?"

"What do you — Oh." Pearl glanced at Ruby. "They look… Quartizine."

Quartizine? Was that what they used to call quartz-looking Gems? Quartz like, Quartizine, Ruby could see the resemblance. But what was Rose doing with a bunch of Quartzes. She stared more closely. Blue Diamond's insignia was branded on their chests.

"Oh, God. No," she whispered frantically. She hopped down off the sill. "There's got to be something wrong." They'd found out that Rose was rebelling. If they didn't, they'd find out soon. What would happen when the house was half-torn apart? Not to mention all the burn marks that Ruby was causing! Would they figure out that a Ruby — a Gem that should have been shattered five-thousand years ago — was running free in the house?

"Calm down." Pearl grabbed Ruby's shoulder.

"Calm down?" A familiar blast of heat met Ruby's feet and hands. "I've got to tell Amethyst! Do you know what Blue Diamond and her troops do to defective Gems?"

At this, Pearl stiffened. "What? I know Blue is intolerant, but…" She paused. "God?"

Ruby inhaled quickly. "A human word. It's their Stars. But that's not the point!" She raised her hands. "Blue Diamond's troops immediately shatter any Gem that doesn't work right!" She shrunk in her shoulders. "Immediately!"

Pearl now looked terrified.

"You should act like a normal Pearl," Ruby said to her, careful not to touch her. "I've got to warn Amethyst."

The door opened with a creak.

"This place is a wreck," she heard a rough voice say. "Has anything been wrong?"

Ruby started to run down the halls, careful not to let anything but her feet touch the manor.

"No, don't worry. We found it like this," she heard Rose hurriedly say.

Ruby turned a corner. Where would Amethyst and Sapphire be?

Another voice this time. "We could tell Heliotrope to send some Peridots to fix this up."

Amethyst would be… with Sapphire? No, of course not.

"I said, don't worry," Rose said, harsher this after.

She'd probably be in the training room. She ran down the flight of stairs that went from the third to second floor. She met the pretty much destroyed dining room. Amethyst was in it for sure, swinging her whip at any dummy and tearing the head off of it.

She looked absolutely angry.

"Amethyst!" Ruby whispered hurriedly.

Amethyst turned around. "Have you come to say sorry?" she whisper-yelled back. "And who's with Rose?"

Ruby ran to Amethyst. "Quartzes! From Blue Diamond," she said, waving her hand to beckon Amethyst. "Hide! I've got to tell Sapphire!"

There was a second as Amethyst made her whip disappear in a flash of light. "Why? She's not defective," she said bitterly.

Ruby raised her hands, another burst of flame erupting from her head. By Blue Diamond's standards, anything that was out of order was defective. "You wouldn't understand."

Amethyst pulled her whip out and strung it around the table with a target on its underside. She pulled and the table fell down with a crash.

"Amethyst!" she whisper-shouted.

"What was that?" the first Quartz's voice said.

"It's nothing," Rose said.

"It's our job to check," the first Quartz said.

"Hide!" Ruby said before running down the hall. She stopped before the stairway and turned. Sapphire must be in one of these rooms. Sure enough, familiar frost was creeping up a door on the left side. Ruby sighed and went in. She immediately melted water as she stepped in.

"Sapphire!" Ruby said. She seemed to be deep in thought. "Sapphire, we've got to hide!"

"Why?" she asked cooly, but didn't seem to move.

Ruby tightened her mouth, restraining herself. "Blue Diamond sent Quartzes. They'll shatter all of us!"

"That's an unlikely outcome," she said. She stood up, levitating. "But as always, we need to make any outcome so." Frost receded from the walls. "Where do we hide?"

Ruby took a second. Somewhere they were together, so they would balance each-others temperatures. And not in this room, because they would just be freezing and re-heating water. In other words, sending water flowing down the halls.

"Somewhere on the third floor." She grabbed Sapphire's hand. "Let's go!"

What Ruby didn't expect was to be the one pulled by Sapphire. She was running at full speed much faster than Ruby could ever hope.

At the stair, she caught a glimpse of an orange Quartz and a black-and-red one in the training room. No.

She was swept off her feet as Sapphire silently pulled her up the stairs. They quickly found a door and shut it behind them.

It was completely dark. As soon as Sapphire let go of Ruby she held her hand out to grasp it.

There were creaks up and down the stairs. "Are you sure that you aren't swinging torches around the place, my Diamond?"

"I'm absolutely sure. Our Peridot's limb enhancers went awry. That's all."

"Then the estate would be burned down," the one with the rough voice said. "Or at least have holes blasted through it."

There was silence as Ruby saw a small orange candle-light erupt from her fingertips.

"That's… what the holes in the walls are," she heard Rose say shakily.

"But the scorches are in different places!" the smoother-voiced one said. "Not that I mean any disrespect, my Diamond."

There was quiet.

The rough-voiced one spoke up loudly, sending a _chill_ through Ruby's spine. "I think I mean it. You're obviously hiding something from your fellow Diamonds. I think we need to investigate. What do you think?"

"She's our superior—"

"No-one but Blue Diamond and Heliotrope 15R2 are our superiors. It doesn't matter if she's a Diamond—"

"Actually, I believe it does."

"Not if we have orders from Blue Diamond saying exactly who our superiors are. We might have rebelled on Homeworld, but Blue Diamond put us in our place. And so, if you don't mind, I'll go on and have a look at that massive puddle running into the room."

There were stomps. She felt Sapphire's grip start to freeze on Ruby's hand.

"No, we've got to stay calm. Otherwise…"

It was too late. She felt her feet flare, sending a small flash of light throughout the entire room. It went away quickly as soon as Ruby noticed it. But it did it's damage, and revealed some of Sapphire's. Frost went up the wall, and now that Ruby sent a flame out, was melting down onto the floor.

"No!" she managed a gasp. "Sapphire!"

"Ruby," Sapphire said.

She curled her lip. Her hair started to cast an orange glow around the room. "How could you? We weren't supposed to use our temperature powers!"

"You never mentioned anything about Pyro and Cryokinesis," she said calmly. "Now please. Calm down. Your erratic behaviour is blocking my future-vision."

Her future vision? That was all she cared about? She threw her hands in the air. "So that's what's on your mind? Not imminent _death,_ not the fact that Quartzes are searching for us!" She seemed to be overtaken by anger. If she could see the floor, she thought she'd see scorch-prints all over it. "But no, all that you care about is your future vision!"

"Ruby, please calm down. My future vision will get us out of this situation. Or at least tell us how likely shattering is right now. With your shouting, I can guess that it's rather likely."

"You!" she stopped. Sapphire had a point. "Fine," she muttered, sitting down and tapping her toes lightly. She just had to calm down. That's what Sapphire needed to pull them through this? Then alright. She was calm when there was no fire. So all she needed to do was… She willed her feet to lose their flare. She did this for her fingers, and then finally for her hair-tips. The small, ember-esque glow disappeared one hair by one.

"Happy now?" Ruby asked. "What do you see?"

She heard nothing from Sapphire. So now she was ignoring her. Great. She crossed her arms, but tried extra hard not to get angry.

They sat in silence, Ruby scratching her arms to let out the stress. She could hear the Quartzes coming closer. Doors slammed open and closed. Ruby held her breath as the door from the other end of the hall opened.

"As your superior, I command you to stop!" Rose shouted, close enough her smooth voice was clear.

The rough-voiced one stood up. "We already said. You aren't our superior. Now why would you be hiding Gems?"

"I'm not, though," Rose said. Her voice seemed raw.

"The obvious training room. The mannequins torn apart. The fact that nobody besides you and that _human_ are up and about. There's something wrong, and I have to report you to Blue Diamond if that's the case."

There was silence from Rose until Ruby heard a deep sigh. "Fine. If I'm lying, open that door."

A jolt of fear shot through Ruby. She stood up as her hands caught flame. "No," she whispered.

"Who was that?"

"Nobody. Just my Sapphire."

"With fire?"

"Yes… yes," she said, more firmly the second time.

"Fine." The door opened to reveal two Quartzes. One was orange with red stripes on her face. She had a gem where her right eye should be. The other was a black one with red and green patches on her face and chest.

"What is that?" the orange one said, sounding offended.

"My Sapphire, like I said," Rose managed cooly.

"No." The orange gem looked absolutely offended. She gave a withering glare behind her. "The red one."

When Rose didn't respond, Ruby saw a blue screen pop out from the black Gem's outfit. "It's a… Ruby…" There was silence as the Gem's multicoloured eyes traced the screen. "Apparently, they were all shattered when we came along."

Ruby stuttered for a second. "Apparently we weren't," she said.

"And a feisty one too." The orange Gem pulled something out from her pocket. It looked like a two-pronged fork glowing yellow. "What's the story with the Sapphire? She isn't talking."

"What's wrong with a Sapphire that isn't talking."

The black Gem turned to Rose. "Sapphires are always, and I mean always, spouting off their predictions. Are all your Gems defective?"

Ruby took a protective step back, her hand already summoning her gauntlet.

"Apparently so," the orange Gem said. "I'll get the Sapphire, Heliotrope. I'll get the Ruby."

Ruby's breath hitched, her hair flickering.

"She's cute, when you think about it," the orange Gem said.

Ruby's shoulders tensed, her hair bursting into a small fire.

"Little flames coming up and down her hair…" She gave a taunting sneer. "They're quite funny to look at."

At that, Ruby growled. She wasn't some rabbit to look at! She ran at the Gem, fist raised. Just as the electrified fork came running at her, she punched it out of the way and used her bare fist to hit the Gem in the stomach. She didn't even shirk. She just picked Ruby up by her underarm. Ruby squeaked in pain.

"Break my destabilizer, will you?" she asked, with a false sweetness. "I'll show you."

Ruby looked behind her in fear. The other Gem, Heliotrope, was stalking towards Sapphire like she'd try out some of Ruby's tactics. She wasn't. Oh how she hoped she would! She wasn't.

Ruby had to help her! She grunted, using her feet to push off the orange Gem. She looked dumbfounded for a second until Ruby hit the ground.

The Heliotrope smiled and prepared to strike Sapphire with her "destabilizer."

"No!" Ruby shouted as she ran for Sapphire. She pushed her out of the way and prepared to stand in the way of the weapon. Sapphire's skirt tumbled out from beneath Ruby's feet, though, and the both of them stumbled together. Just as the destabilizer swung next to Ruby's head, she felt Ruby and Sapphire's gems collide. Instead of feeling a crack as they hit the ground, she felt something far different.

She felt like she was losing herself for a second. A flash of white blasted into her eyes. This was… familiar. In the moment, she couldn't place it. She couldn't feel anything anymore. Who was she? She forgot just for a moment, before her mind started coming back to her. She was strong. She was calm. She was… herself. When the white fell away from her vision, she felt different. Almost sick. All her fury and fear from seconds ago melted away.

And when she opened her eyes to see three shocked Gems and one destabilizer clatter to the floor, she had three eyes.


	17. Chapter 16

The Gem blinked in surprise. This was new. This outcome was… strange. She took a second to glance down at her hands. Her skin was supposed to be Blue — no, red — but it was a maroon. She touched her hair. Her hairstyle wasn't its… knee-length straightness… or was it a similar afro?

 _I didn't expect this outcome…_ Someone in her head whispered. It looked to be her. She shook her head. This was amazing. She seemed to be someone entirely knew.

She then remembered what had just happened. Just as that Gem was going after her — no, Sapphire. Or someone else, that Ruby — no, she'd jumped in the way. Either way, Ruby fell and then this happened.

A voice in her head sounded like it was laughing, making the maroon-skinned gem jump in her skin. _This is like Pyrope!_ A jolt of shock went through her. _We fused!_

The other part of her made her calm down. She stood up and stared at the two gems in front of her. She was unsure whether or not to be surprised, happy, or both.

 _Alright,_ half of her said. _We're fused. This is…_

The other half seemed to read her mind's mind. _Great?_

She felt shock for both herself and the first half. _Yeah!_

 _We're going to be shattered in seconds._

The new Gem noted the situation. There were in fact, two gems. One had already reached on the ground for a destabilizer she dropped.

Her left side already had a fist summoned onto her hand. The Gem held her fist out defensively.

The Heliotrope stepped towards them. Both sides of her told her to look up at the pink Gem, Rose Quartz. She gave a nod and stepped behind the orange Gem.

 _Work together,_ both parts of her whispered.

There, she gained a sort of unity. She felt calm, but also restless. She stood up taller just as the Heliotrope prepared to swing again. Her left leg went forward and her right one back. She moved no-where but down, which dodged the blow closely enough.

 _I said together!_ they both said.

She felt her right side pull out another gauntlet with a flash of light. Her left hand aimed for the destabilizer. Her right seemed to be doing the same thing. It met the destabilizer on both ends, crushing it into pieces. With that, her right fist stopped, but her left went up for an uppercut. She lost balance and fell as the Heliotrope clasped her jaw.

 _She's going to summon her sword._ Her right side took a step back. _You lead. I'll use my future vision to follow._

Sure enough, her left side took much more control. Her left leg always made the first movement. Her right came right after. Sometimes, they were timed together.

Her left fist made another swing for the Heliotrope's head. Her right side stopped. She didn't want to hurt anyone. On the contrary, half of her burned with fury.

The Gem poofed, landing on the ground.

 _She's only got a few minutes, if she's anything like Amethyst._ Her left hand's gauntlet dissipated and picked up the Gem.

"We should crush it," her left side said, this time aloud. Both of her sides started. This voice was new. It was deep and smooth. Almost like Rose's, but stronger-sounding.

In front of her, Rose held the orange Gem in a grapple. She pushed her against the wall. "No."

A shield came from Rose's hand, pushing the Quartz into the wall. "Could you help?"

The gem nodded. Both her sides summoned their identical weapons. Her right hand unsummoned hers almost as soon as she realized what her other side, Ruby's side, was going to do. Ruby's side wanted to hurt this Quartz. To make her pay. Quartzes — at least kindergarten Quartzes — were the Gems that got her entire class shattered. All the friends that Ruby had were killed because of them.

Sapphire's side froze in shock as she aimed straight for the orange gemstone where her nose should have been. It cracked and the Gem poofed before she even it the wall. Her gemstone fell to the floor, making the crack just a bit larger.

 _Good._

 _Good?_ Sapphire's side made the Gem feel terrified. _You fatally injured a Gem! Because she was a Quartz!_

 _Serves her right._

The Gem's insides started to hurt. She felt like she was being torn apart. Her vision started to blur as she heard Ruby's side shouting something indistinctly.

Her vision turned white.

Then she was no more.

Rose stared at the Gems on the floor.

"She killed all of my friends!" Ruby shouted.

"Just her?" Sapphire said.

Rose turned to the cracked gem, a Jasper by the looks of it, on the floor. She picked it up.

"Well, not _her._ But any Quartz that came from a kindergarten caused it!"

Sapphire got up from her knees and left the room.

"You're just mad because we fused!" Ruby shouted.

Rose stood up tall and glared at Ruby. Sapphire was right, for whatever they were arguing before they unfused. "You should have just poofed her."

"Now you're just like Sapphire!" Ruby huffed. "They were trying to kill us."

Rose shook her head. "No, actually. A destabilizer would just poof you."

Ruby threw her arms in the air. Her hair was lighting up the room and leaving black marks on the ceiling. "How was I supposed to know?"

Rose opened her mouth to argue but stopped. It didn't matter right now, did it? They should leave for the cave she and Greg had found. "It doesn't matter. Grab everyone before they reform."

Then there was the Jasper. She remembered what happened when Yellow Diamond showed the others what happened when a cracked gem reformed. She then said that the monstrosities that resulted would be great weapons.

"We need to go," she said, shuddering at the memory of what a cracked Emerald looked like. "Come on."

She ran down the halls and picked up the pace. She told Greg to tell the rest of the gems that there were visitors to the estate, and to get them together unless something went wrong.

And looking at the two gems sitting on the floor, something had certainly gone wrong. "Ruby, find Sapphire and Amethyst. Get to Greg. Then we've got a place to show you. Alright?"

Ruby, who was running beside her, nodded. "Got it, Rose!"

 _AN: Okay. I do say, this is a rather short chapter, and I'm sorry my chapter lengths fluctuate, but I write my chapters so that they're all one scene. Just to point that out. Trust me, the next chapter will be longer. :)_


	18. Chapter 17

It was quiet inside the hover. Pearl could appreciate that. Compared to what happened in Seaglass, even the fact she was crushed against Tiger's Eye and Amethyst didn't bother her.

What did bother her was that Greg was in the front, sitting next to Rose. Sure, he looked shaken, but he also hadn't been in the house the entire time the Quartzes were in. He hadn't seen what had went on.

On that thought, neither had Pearl.

Everyone was quiet. Pearl could see that Ruby was guiltily touching her hand. Rose's eyes were wide, like she was in shock.

Pearl couldn't see Sapphire, but she certainly felt the cold radiating off of her.

Finally, she rested back into her thoughts. She ignored the fields flying past her. She wanted to ask them. But what would their reactions be? She thought on it for a few seconds, but no ideas came out besides angry.

She'd been shouted at before — not by Rose of course — but she was used to it.

"What happened in there?" she asked, her hands automatically reaching for her veil.

There was an even more uncomfortable silence, until Two gems spoke up at once. She couldn't get all the words, but she heard "We fused," and "Cracked a Gem."

Pearl stiffened. She looked around the hover. Someone had fused? It certainly wasn't Amethyst who'd fused, nor Tiger's Eye. They'd been with Pearl. She stopped for a second and gaped.

Ruby and Sapphire? She felt a tug of disgust in her stomach. More at Sapphire than Ruby. Ruby'd shown her nature that night, so Pearl wasn't surprised. But Sapphire? A high-ranking rare gem, going off and fusing? She felt a bit sick.

On that note, if Ruby wasn't above fusing, she certainly wasn't above cracking a Gem. She sat for a second, tugging at her veil. "She wasn't shattered, was she?"

Rose turned, and the hover shook before it steadied and kept on going. "She might as well have been."

She noticed that nobody in the car was speaking. She could see a small flicker from Ruby, which was promptly put out by Sapphire.

Why should she have been shattered? What did Ruby do?

Peridot chimed in immediately like she was reading Pearl's mind. "Well, when a gem cracks and goes unhealed for long enough, they go through a process that almost makes them bestial. Lemme see what it's called." Her arms opened up to show a bight screen that nearly blinded Pearl. The hover quivered for a second before levelling out again. "Corruption, I guess. That's the only term I could find."

Pearl had to look around Tigers' Eye to see Peridot. The green-skinned Gem's face started out curious. Her eyebrows and mouth turned downwards as her eyes flickered over text that Pearl couldn't understand. Finally, her brows shot up and her mouth gaped open.

"Oh my stars," Pearl heard her whisper.

What was going on that made her look like this? "Tell me!" Pearl said.

"To a Pearl?" she scoffed. "No thanks."

Underneath Pearl, Tiger's Eye shifted. "How about to a Quartz?"

She had to glance at Rose to see if she would approve of it. She just seemed stiffer than before.

Peridot sighed. "Fine. Gems, when corrupted," she began, "regain their form, but not as bipedal creatures. They reform into monsters. Some studies prove that half-shattered Gems still have consciousness, and are… trapped in their new forms… trying to escape forever…" She paused and glared at first Tiger's Eye then Pearl. "Do you want me to keep going."

"I've seen worse," Tiger's Eye said, but Pearl wasn't feeling up to it.

"Fine. The studies also show that there's no way to get a Gem out of this state short of shattering them. There. That's all I can say without showing you pictures."

Pearl receded back into her seat, clutching the velvet tightly. Tiger's Eye didn't seem to say anything either.

A chuckle broke through the new silence. Pearl stared in shock as Ruby soon was doubling over from laughter. Flames popped off her fingers and her nails glowed. "Serves them right!"

Pearl shuddered. "How could you?"

"Come on. Their _existence_ killed all of them!"

Tiger's Eye stiffened and Pearl shrunk back. No. She shouldn't crunch. "Oh yes, because Quartzes were the ones who shattered—"

"Stop!" Rose shouted. Pearl immediately shrunk in her shoulders and stared at Rose. She turned around to face all of them. "Just… please. Stop talking. Please." She sighed and turned back around so she was facing forwards.

Pearl watched the grass fly by them, long enough to rub against the bottom of the hover. It seemed to whip by in the wind as well, almost glowing silver under the moonlight.

"That's exactly what they did," Ruby muttered. Pearl twisted to glance at her, but first met an angry glare from Amethyst. "All those Kindergarten Quartzes. They were literally ordered to shatter us. But what do I know?" she said, flaring her hands out. "I'm just a grunt-soldier. Only good when fused."

Pearl blinked at her, pursing her lips. Was she mentioning small insults aimed at her like they had been aimed at Pearl? Why? They resonated off of her, but she didn't say anything.

Just a maid. Some pretty frills to brighten up her mistress' estate. She'd heard all of them before, but had only assumed it was a Pearl kind of thing.

To think about it, she'd forgotten the days where she had been poking fun at Rubies in her own mind.

She turned her face up to Amethyst. She grimaced, trying to apologize, but it didn't come across like it had any bit of friendliness to it. She curled her large lips up, like she was telling Pearl to "Screw off," or whatever human words she wanted to use to tell her to go away.

She turned away, leaning back onto the chair. Stars, she just wished she could be at their new base already. There, she might have something to wrap her head around. For now though, it was nothing but her, the other Gems, a human, and unbearable awkwardness.

 _AN: Alright, I wholeheartedly apologize for not updating in so long. I moved though!_

 _Also I'd really like to state that given the recent episodes, I understand pretty much all of my headcanons about the Gems are wrong. Blue Diamond is Lapis theory, the Rubies being shattered... yeah. Sadly, I cannot change these parts of the story. But yeah, these are some canon inaccuracies that I'm 100% okay with, lol. :)_


	19. Chapter 18

As Tiger's Eye and Amethyst took turns excavating material to fill up the cave, Greg was trying to get something to do.

He trailed behind Rose as she cleared out the other Quartzes' rubble. "There's got to be something!" he shouted. And he hoped it wasn't keeping watch.

Rose turned back to him with a patronizing smile. "You don't need to do anything, Greg. We're already dealing with it."

They passed Peridot, who was carefully chiselling away those crystals that hung on the ceiling. She was giggling in sheer euphoria. "I can't believe this!" she said, her visor glowing with her gem's light.

"This is perfect!" She squeaked as a crystal dropped. She dipped down and barely caught it.

Greg blinked, but turned back to Rose. "I'm a part of this too," he said. He felt his arm hairs raise at the sound of that. "I could…"

"Aha!" Rose smiled. "Inform the humans!"

"Yes!" Greg said, throwing his fist in the air. Wait. "What?" he asked, stopping right before he jumped. He certainly didn't expect Rose to answer with that.

"Inform the humans," she said casually. She turned back and grabbed an armful of rubble. She ran back and tossed it into the pool, splashing Peridot. "We're going to have to rescue them sometime."

Greg felt ice creep under his skin. "Is this just because you want me gone?" he asked on impulse. He winced as Rose turned so fast that he could hear the whistling of her ringlets as they moved.

"No." She looked up the cliff. "But they won't understand what's going on when a bunch of Gems break in and tell them they're free."

She had a point. If everyone knew they were going to be freed, then it'd actually happen. He shuddered to think that they just wouldn't go. "Got it," he said quietly.

"Good." She took another trip to grab another armful of rocks and dirt. She threw it hard, splashing water high enough to get Greg in the face. He wiped the cold liquid off, flicking it away from his eyes.

"So," Greg said, clasping his hands together. "How do I do it?" He couldn't just go out and spy on the humans. First off, he had no idea how to drive one of those hovers, and next off he'd get caught.

Rose threw another load of rocks into the puddle, This time, it was finally full. The displaced water rose up and poured out the lip of the cave. Greg sidestepped but Rose hopped up and let herself float.

Greg waited to see if it was just him, but sure enough she was doing it. She sighed and let herself touch the sand once the water had sunk into the sand.

"You're a smart human." Her eyes were trained on Peridot. She was hissing as dropped crystals flowed out onto the sand. "I think you can do it."

Greg stuck his feet out to catch whatever crystals he could grab. He picked them up and ran towards Peridot. "Where do you want these?"

Peridot dropped to the ground, turning so her arms could hit the ground first. She let the rest of her body fall and stood up. "Just put them over there." She pointed to the wall closest to where Peridot had been, where several other slabs of the strange crystals stood.

Greg glanced back at Rose to see an amused smile curling her lips. His shoulders sagged as she waved him away. "See, you've found yourself a job," she said, getting back to her job. "And don't worry. I won't hit you!"

Peridot turned to him, smirking. He couldn't see her eyes because of her gem-light. "Well, guess you're with me. Be my catcher." She hopped up. Her fingers on one arm became a hook. She quickly snagged herself on the ceiling and let her other hand become some sort of chisel and hammer. "And this way, I won't have to be so careful!" Greg watched as she smashed her four other hammer-fingers into her chisel. The crystals blasted away.

Greg had to run to catch him and when he did nearly crashed into a wall.

"Careful with those!"

He pursed his lips, acknowledging her. He walked across the cavern, placing the crystals on that shelf.

This went on for a fairly long time. Greg got grazed on or two times with a rock, but didn't want to tell Rose about it. Soon enough, rocks covered the shelf, some spilling out as soon as Greg put another on.

"How much do you need?" he finally asked, a huge slab of this crystal in his hands. These things all had some sort of lining on it and it was rubbing off on Greg. It was like some sort of rainbow-glimmer on his arms.

"Enough to make a door," Peridot said nonchalantly.

"What?"

"Oh!" She turned down, a grin on her face. "Well, I have a theory that Peridium, as I'm going to name it — It didn't have a name on its bio — can actually work if it has a large enough quantity. And don't rub those crystals too much. That's probably its active ingredient."

Greg faked a smile like he understood. Active ingredient? What was its purpose even? He saw her grin widely.

"So? What do you think? You musta seen these all over. Any ideas?"

Greg took a deep breath, finding a new shelf to put his slab of 'Peridium' on. It tipped precariously, but stayed put a second later. "I have no idea what you're talking about, actually. What's its purpose?"

"Well, the gems who discovered it didn't name it, but figured that it could make some sort of spaceless room."

The explanation wasn't helping, and Peridot must have seen that. "Stars, you humans don't understand anything. Well, what I mean is that Peridium could create a sort of safe space that nobody can get in."

So they could build a base that was completely safe? Greg chuckled. "Really?"

"Yeah!" she said. "All I need is a —" Peridot paused as she crunched closer to the wall. Greg saw heard the stones clacking on each other. He hopped out of the way as try ones rolled after him.

"Sorry!" Rose called. "Got a plan?"

Greg shook his head. How could he think of one? He wasn't able to drive and what good was a human spying on the others. And he had to do it somehow.

The only way if this was going to work was… Greg tried to push away the thought.

"Kapowie!" Peridot shouted and another slab of Peridium fell. Greg scrambled to catch it.

He didn't want to do it. More so, simply couldn't go back.

Greg put the slab next to the previous.

"So anyways," Peridot said after Rose left. "I think that if I had a sufficient amount of Peridium, the door would work. And bam!" She let her hammer-fingers drop. "Us here 'rebels' would have a safe base." Another chunk cracked from its perch. "And we'd all do whatever we want! Golly, I must be the smartest…" she trailed off, acting like Greg wasn't even there. She went on a small spiel about how smart or cool she was. Greg just grabbed shards of Peridium and put them on the shelf.

His hands trailed on jagged stone as he thought. He couldn't go back to the complex. He'd never been treated so kindly in his life. Sure, he was a bit hungry, but Greg hadn't really needed that much anyways.

But wasn't it selfish just to leave the rest of the humans in the complex? But then there were hundreds of other complexes. Would he have to go into each one? He couldn't!

A cloud of dust blew into the air as rocks clacked against each other. Greg coughed, instinctively covering his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Peridot asked. Greg looked to see that Rose, who had obviously thrown the rocks, was gone. "Your… whatever… isn't cracked, is it?"

His _whatever?_ Greg shook his head. "No," he said. He had to find it amusing that Peridot would think he had some source of power like them. "It's just the dust," he said through a burning in the back of his throat. _And the anxiety, I guess._

Greg squared his shoulders. "But yeah, I'm okay."

"Great!" Peridot said. "Because I think after this stalactite — and I'm going to _pop_ this entire one off — we'll have enough to build that base. Ready?"

Greg didn't answer, because there were a few loud smacks of her fingers hitting each other, and then an entire mass of the crystal fell.

He caught it, the weight almost making him fall with it.

"Yes!" she said. Her hammer-fingers turned into a fist, which she used to punch the air below her. "And if this much doesn't work, then we've got like…"

Greg followed Peridot's gaze to look at at least twenty other stalactites at the end of the cave. Most were so large that they connected to the bottom of the cave. "Plenty to retry!"

Greg still felt queasy at what he had to do. "Yeah. Guess so!" he shouted half-heartedly at her, his mind now pretty much consumed by his own thoughts.

"Hey," Peridot said, detaching from her place on the ceiling. She landed on the floor hands first. "Can you go tell Pink Diamond that we're done? Also, I want to show her my theory." She stopped. "Sorry, Rose Quartz. I want to tell Rose Quartz."

Greg wasn't the type to correct her, but put the slab on a shelf with a nod. "Sure." He left the cave, careful not to trip on any rocks that were layered over the cave floor.

Halfway to where Amethyst and Tiger's Eye were tunnelling out rocks Greg ran into Rose. He almost collided with her. He stopped only by digging his toes into the sand. It caused a fine spray over the bottom of Rose's dress, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Back so soon?" she asked, an arm full of stones.

"Yeah," Greg said. "I don't think we need any more, though. And Peridot says we're done mining the crystals. Oh, and she wants to see you."

"Good, good…" Rose rubbed her hand on her cheek. "So what about your plan?" She started walking, a smug grin on her face.

Greg breathed in deeply. "I think I got one." _And I hate every bit of it_. He didn't say that aloud, though.

"And?" Her dress trailed behind her, making swirls in the sand.

"And…" Greg noticed the glint in her eyes. Had she already come to that conclusion? His blood boiled for a moment before ehe forced himself to cool down. "I'm going to have to go back to the complex."

"Mm-hm," Rose said emotionlessly. "That's definitely the most logical way."

Greg felt his shoulders rise. "You know — You know you could have just told me to go back, right?" He grimaced at Rose, whose eyes flickered down to him and then back onto the cliff.

"Sure, but your understanding of the plan wouldn't be so thorough, would it?"

"No, but —" Greg was interrupted as Rose stopped at the cave where Peridot was standing.

He hadn't even noticed they were there already. He decided just to shut up, his cheeks feeling warm. He didn't know whether it was out of embarrassment or anger or both.

"I've got to show you something!" Peridot cried.

Rose leaned down next to Greg. Just above his head, she whispered, "Do what you want. If you're going through with this, Pearl'll be at the hover at sundown. She'll take you to the complex. After that, be on the lookout. Okay?"

Greg didn't even have time to answer as Peridot grabbed Rose by the arm and tugged her into the cave. He brushed his hair through with his fingers.

So. A ride with pearl and nobody else tonight? _Wonderful._


	20. Chapter 19

Pearl didn't want to do this. Having to spend more than five seconds around the human was infuriating. As far as she was concerned, he was a sweaty stupid humanoid. No weapon, no skills, no technology to speak of...

Her skin prickled as Greg opened the passenger door in the front.

"No," Pearl said almost too fast. "Humans go into the back." This time, she decided to give her voice the most drippingly condescending tone she could muster on him.

Greg held the door open for a second and gave her a withering glare.

"I'm serious." She threw him a smile too wide for even the average pearl.

He frowned, a curl at the corner of his lips, and closed it. Good. He got into the back, sliding over. Pearl got in the driver's side, putting her hand on the control pad. She already felt the all-too-unpleasant feeling of her vision blurring. Soon, one eye could see through the hover. Her other could see the world around her and the landscape in front of her if she wanted to.

Greg seemed to get himself comfy, cozying up in the velvet. His stare was blank. Clearly, he wasn't thinking of anything. Thank the stars he was leaving. She could only hope for good.

She pushed her arm forwards, starting the hover. Her left eye was rendered useless with how fast the hover had gotten so quickly, so she shut it and left her right, autonomous eye do the work. The complex... She didn't even know where that was...

Maybe this hover had a positioning system. Of course, it might be just like the rest of the completely dead tech on this planet and have no navigation system whatsoever. She hoped it wasn't the latter.

One-eyed, she fidgeted around with the controls. A screen showed amongst the other buttons. Yes! But it probably wouldn't be working. She tapped at it experimentally. It took a few taps before the screen became responsive. Three simple options showed. Navigation, Steering, and Limitations. She tapped navigation.

At least fifteen ports showed up. Four kindergartens showed. Strangely enough, only six complexes showed. All of them had a different Gem in front of it. Heliotrope, Chalcedony, Amethyst, Smoky Quartz, Unakite, and finally Howlite.

Pearl was absolutely dumbstruck. These were obviously commanders, and they obviously had a complex each to themselves. But which one was his?

"I'm from Heliotrope's," Greg offered.

Pearl twisted around to meet him. It was helpful, sure, but how would a human know how to read Gem language? Didn't they have some other, primitive scrivenings of their own?

Greg gave an almost cheeky grin to her, at which she had to seethe from the corners of her lips.

Even then, he _had_ been helpful. "Thank. You."

"My pleasure." He said it completely and totally unironically. Pearl clenched her teeth.

She tapped on 'Heliotrope Complex' about four times until it responded. Then, the hover changed direction and started to pilot itself in the correct direction. She assumed that all she had to do was control the speed now.

She dug her nails into her palm. The engine seemed to roar in Pearl's left ear, and she felt cold night wind blowing at her face.

She never wanted to hear another word from this human. She grimaced and tried not to even think of him as she drove.

She thought about it, she could probably rest now. All she needed to do was keep her hand in the drivers' port.

Then the human started biting his fingernails. Pearl winced at every tiny tearing sound ringing against her ears. She heard his fingers whistle as he wiggled his hands. "Ow," he whispered. Was that a natural pain response? Flailing your fingers and making small grunt?

Pearl tried to let her attention dimly fade away until she was in a meditative rest sate, but it didn't happen. The constant grinding of his teeth as they dug through fingernail made her ears feel like they were bleeding. She breathed in quietly. Calm down, she told herself. Calm down.

In fact, if she tried, she could see the blurry outlines of the complex. It looked like it was only a few miles away. Well, guess there was no use resting now.

The hover swerved, whipping Pearl against the side of the car. She swore quietly to herself, but Greg shouted his pain response again. The hover was now merging into a roadway. She didn't even notice it until there was a barely audible 'Hey!' behind her. She twisted around to see another driver. It took her a second to realize her place on the Gem hierarchy again, but when she did she turned her autopilot off and let the other Gem pass.

The first thing she noticed was that this was a rare gem, a bismuth. Her skin shone iridescent hues of blue and purple in the moonlight. Her dreadlocks whipped behind her, and here was always that grin on her face. It was on all five bismuth gems she'd seen. The shine in her eyes also told her that these Gems were really happy. She wondered why.

"Oh my god," Greg whispered from behind her. Pearl turned to trace his vision. The first thing she saw was that the hover was extended to its full length. Then, she saw that it was a special model that could hold up to fifty Gems. Almost like the land-based war machines that had been prototyped hundreds of years ago.

Then she noticed the passengers. In fact, it looked like there were twice the maximum capacity on the hover. Humans were all squished against each other. They all had paint smudged on their faces. Some of it was bright red, some was black. She turned to see the horrified expression on Greg's face. She could barely tell they were humans if it weren't for their body shape.

"They're South American…" Greg muttered. "Wait. Is their complex full?"

How was Pearl supposed to know?

"If it's full, then they can't build any extensions!" He laughed after this, a nasal sound that made Pearl want to cover her ears. "They're running out of resources!"

Once again that cleverness of his reared its ugly head. On another thought, why would he be happy that Gems were running out of resources? It sounded like something that Rose was saying lately.

Maybe her new change was influenced by him.

The complex was definitely coming into view. Trees started popping up in Pearl's vision. They blurred past her.

She glanced back at Greg. "How could you influence her?" she said out loud. Without reason, she immediately regretted it.

"Me?" Greg turned back to Pearl, his face still white from seeing all the 'South American' slaves. "Thanks, but I don't think I'm all that great. Especially with her." At the last word, his face reddened. A light smile turned his lips.

"Oh, but you can!" Pearl said, her voice sharpening. "You, a disgusting little human!" A human that Rose clearly had a fondness for. "You've got no redeeming qualities. You can't fight for the life of you…" Actually, he was a pretty fair mace-fighter. She refused to let him know that. "You're very existence is inefficient when you think of it… And then there's me, the superior being, who's been by Rose's side for thousands of years. And I can't make a dent in her thinking!"

The hover was farther away, so Pearl took it as a cue to let personality show again.

Greg didn't seem fazed except for his eyebrows being furrowed together. "Maybe it's because you're a Pearl."

Pearl didn't expect that. "What?" she asked. The hover swerved until she slowed it down.

"Sure. She's seen hundreds of you. Millions, maybe." He shrugged and met Pearl's eyes with a smirk. "How many Pearls are there on Homeworld anyways?"

Pearl saw his grin widen, just like it had when he figured out Pearl was defective. There was one for almost every Gem above Pearls and Peridots. And then, Pearls were often used for manufacturing. So maybe there were billions.

"Only a few hundred. They're reserved for rulers," she lied. She avoided Greg's gaze by turning around and watching the road.

"Bullshit." There was a silence.

The complex became closer and closer until it was so close Pearl couldn't see the edges of the complex in her vision. They drove for what felt like more than five minutes before they entered a tunnel.

It was dark and metallic. Bright white lights shone up above them, immediately flying away to be met by another one. This went on for a bit.

"But I guess that Rose likes me because I'm pretty much the only human she's seen. Has she ever been on Earth before?"

She'd never been on Earth before. She wasn't going to give this human anymore cockiness. "Plenty of times. In fact, she's been served by entire troops of humans."

As lights flared past the both of them, Greg said. "Another lie. So I'm a novelty." He said nothing, like he was thinking. "Maybe that's why she likes me."

Pearl nodded. "That's definitely it," she said, unsure whether she was telling herself or Greg.

Greg chuckled lightly.

Pearl noticed the lights coming to steady a hundred feet in front of her. She wasn't going to slow down the hover until the last second.

Finally, the lights stopped. The wall came close enough that if Pearl stopped immediately, she'd just miss crashing into the wall.

She pulled her hand out of the drivers' port. She regained vision in her other eye, immediately putting her hand over her Gem.

The car stopped, the inertia forcing Greg into the back of her seat. Surprisingly she didn't move. Behind her the chair vibrated.

Once more, Greg sounded his little pain response. Good. He deserved it.

The car was fully stopped just feet from the front of the wall.

The hover carrying the bismuth and humans had been completely empty, though Pearl and Greg were only a few minutes behind them.

There was a door to the right of them that seemed embedded in the cement-stone.

Pearl sat for a second before getting up and in a false display of kindness, stepped out of the hover and opened the door for Greg.

He rubbed his head, which was already starting to turn blue from a bruise. "The hell was that for?" he asked.

Pearl really smiled, wide enough to squint her eyes. "Oh dear. I did _not_ mean to harm you." Sarcasm dripped off her voice. "But I think that you should report to your commander."

Greg got out of the hover, rubbing his forehead and glaring at Pearl. He opened the door.

"And have a good day!" She shouted at his utterly disdainful look. Goodness, this was fun.

Greg shook his head, lips curled, and disappeared behind the grey door.

AN: Extending "We Need to Talk" is a hobby, I swear. I love when they butt heads. :3


	21. Chapter 20

A new gem as the head of the North American complex. She was the first and only Gem that he saw in the complex. She was standing at the door whee he entered. He didn't notice her until the blue-skinned Gem stood up in front or him. "Who were you talking to back there?" She thought for a second. "Sounded like a Pearl."

Greg nodded. "Yeah. She was." Greg struggled to get back into his old shoes. "My mistress' Pearl."

"So you're out her service?"

She said it almost like she loathed the fact. Greg knew what happened when a Quartz loathed something. He didn't want to be the recipient of that chaos.

They started walking. The new Gem didn't wait for an answer when she said, "I'm Chalcedony. Facet 16."

"Gregory Universe Scharpling. North American complex." He turned away from her splitting white eyes.

"I don't believe you we're here when I was inaugurated. But as I told the others, I will not tolerate humans that don't acknowledge their commanders."

Greg's skin chilled. "Y-yes, commander."

"Commander Chalcedony," she corrected, an even sharper edge to her voice.

"Yes, Commander Chalcedony," he said faster this time.

"Good." She turned a corner and Greg followed. They were silent. Greg had to kick his legs out in order to keep up with her strides. What we she, a foot taller? She didn't look it.

"Who was your mistress?" she asked.

He was about to answer before taking a second thought. If Rose was rebelling he shouldn't give her away. Should he just say Pink Diamond? Or had they found out about the incident at the estate?

"I need to check records," she prodded.

Greg started from his thoughts. He couldn't lie if they had records. "Pink Diamond," he finally said. He hoped it was the right answer.

Chalcedony looked down at him. Her white hair was short and spiky. It couldn't be longer than chin length. One eye darkened to a dim sky blue. The other was still bright.

"Okay. I'll check you in…" Greg looked at her hand to notice metal caps on Chalcedony's fingers. They were coloured similarly to her skin but not quite. Almost like Peridot's things.

Her finger caps did pretty much the same thing. A screen glowed as it popped oh of them. Chalcedony's other hand wasn't covered by the finger caps but worked on he screen like it was. Ripple effects covered the screen as a page full of humans' names showed up. He caught his name near the top. She tapped it and it faded away.

"You were telling the truth. Good."

Greg knew that Chalcedony would know if she found out a lie. He was thankful that she was happy to find his truth.

"You can go back to your quarters. Your troop will tell you your new schedule."

Greg nodded, even more grateful that he was being dismissed.

He started speedwalking away from the tall gem. He glanced back at her to see a bright red popup on her blue screen.

There was a second as he stood back for a second. As soon as he concluded that the message wasn't about him, Chalcedony turned to meet his gaze. Instead of seeing anger, there was a glint of worry in her eyes. "Gregory. There's been a change of plan. Follow me."

"Yes, Commander Chalcedony!" Greg nodded and ran towards the Gem.

Greg was led to Chalcedony's office. Instead of the normal posters of a hollowed-out planet and signs full of procedures and protocols, this room was completely empties out. As Chalcedony sat down into her seat, he almost heard the echo of the chair's creaks. "Sit down," she said.

Greg sat quickly, but shifted uneasily in his chair. This wasn't right. Was it about last night? He hadn't been there to see what went on. He couldn't say anything.

Instead of comforting him, the thought scared him even more. If he couldn't say anything, he'd get interrogated or worse.

"A Quartz has just sent a message to me," she began.

Greg didn't say anything, but wondered what it would have to do with him.

"She told me that she was recently at Pink Diamond's place of residence."

Greg stiffened. So it was about last night. He was doomed. He couldn't say anything aboutt it, and she was surely going to ask.

"Do you know what she said?"

The hair on Greg's arm prickled. Should he lie? She'd find out. She already had the information. "No, I don't," Greg offered steadily and slowly.

"She _said_ that there was a fully-equipped training room. Her Gems were nowhere to be found, and when she did find a few, they fused!"

"Oh," Greg said. "What's fused?" he asked to feign ignorance about the entire situation.

Her eye darkened again as she said, "Something that should only be done between similar Gems. Any ideas what happened next?"

Greg now understood why she was asking the questions. She was trying to get him to overshare. Say more about the Gems than she was asking. So if Greg just kept saying no…

"No, Commander." He looked at her raise her brow and immediately caught himself. "No, Commander Chalcedony."

"The fused Gems split and then immediately went for the Quartz. The one who came back was lucky enough to poof."

Greg, actually not knowing the situation asked, "What happened to the other?"

Chalcedony grinned, something snakelike and devilish. "I'm surprised you knew there were two, human."

Shit. Shit shit _shit!_ He needed to fake his way out of this one. "You said…" He hesitated, trying to speed the conversation through his head. "You said that there was one who came back…" He turned away from Chalcedony's blue-and-white stare. "I just assumed…"

This time, Chalcedony hesitated. She seemed to run through a list of possible options before saying, "You assumed correctly." She put her feet on the desk in front of them. Instead of papers flying around there was a the crisp sound of the bench cracking beneath her feet.

Greg finally noticed somethings that was different about Chalcedony. Instead of having a pink diamond on her stomach like Chalcedony did, there was a blue diamond sewn into her collar, just above her chest.

Finally, as the silence was getting uncomfortable, Greg tapped his feet on the ground. The sound echoed.

"What happened to the other Quartz?" Greg asked again.

"That's on a need to know basis."

"Is there anything else you want me for?"

Chalcedony blinked. "No. Go back to your headquarters. Your uniform will be waiting for you."

Greg nodded and slide out of his chair. She still looked a little peeved.

He bowed. "Thank you, Commander Chalcedony."

Chalcedony stood up. "No, thank you," she grinned, revealing white points for teeth. "You've been most useful."

Greg didn't really feel useful. He might have just given himself away if he hadn't lied to make up for it.

"If you have any more information about Pink Diamond, then please tell me." Greg noticed both Chalcedony's eyes were white again. "Because I just have a hunch that you know more than you're willing to tell."

Greg's mouth tightened with his shoulders. If the hair on the his neck wasn't so long, he would have felt it raising. "N-no, Commander Chalcedony," he lied.

Her eye immediately flashed blue. "Alright then." Her grin seemed to widen. "Tomorrow morning I expect you on shift. Good night."

Greg had run back to his dorm as fast as his long legs would take him. When he turned into the door, his hair trailed behind him and landed in his face.

As was usual in his dorm, nobody but the children were asleep. Top bunks ad legs hanging off of them. Buck was upside down, staring down onto the bottom. "I tell you, he's dead. His deep voice rang through the dorm. "Been gone a few weeks. It's unusual."

"What isn't unusual around here?" Marty snapped back from the bunk below him. "Heliotrope's gone, Gems are swarming the damn mines…" Marty trailed off as he looked forward to see Greg. "Holy shit, it's Lion!" he shouted. He sprang from his bed, narrowly missing Buck's head, and ran towards him.

As Marty hugged him, Greg took in Buck's words. "You thought I was dead?"

Marty let go of him and held him at a distance. "Correction: Buck thought you were dead. _I_ thought you were being tortured."

Greg judged by the grin on Marty's face that it was meant to be taken humorously. Because of recent situations, Greg failed to see it as such. "Thanks," he said bleakly.

Marty's face dropped for a second. He seemed to think for a second. "Well, Kopi's going to have twins," he offered.

Greg should've been happy. He and Sara have been trying for a few years. Instead, he thought of how hard it was going to be to get her out of the complex. "That's great." He halfheartedly smiled.

Buck narrowed his eyes jumping off of his bed and tripping on the floor. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I for one think it's great news!"

Remembrance dawned on Marty's face for a second. "Oh yeah," Marty said. "Buck Jr's finally been let off the night shift. He's working with Buck now."

For this, Greg smiled a bit wider. "That's great," he repeated.

"But seriously, you don't seem alright."

Greg's smile faltered. He remembered why he was discharged from Rose again. "Well, I guess I've got something to tell you…"


	22. Chapter 21

Pearl got back to the beach early in the morning. The sun was barely over the horizon, but as she climbed down the cliff she realized that the light reflecting off of the ocean was enough to light up the entire encampment.

The first thing that she heard was hysterical laughter, and then noticed the camp was entirely empty.

What? She had to get down there to find out what was wrong. She jumped down, making sure that she landed properly. She made a fair-sized, crater in the sand, but that was about it.

She found it almost looking like a polished temple. Still, it was rudimentary at best, but compared to the bumpy sharp mess it had been the evening before it looked like it was constructed by a team of Peridots.

Finally, she tracked down the laughing. Peridot. She was almost doubled over, but she almost flailing her arms to point at something.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"It works!" Peridot screeched. "I've actually done it!"

"The peridium?" she accidentally said aloud.

"Of course, you…" She put a hand to her face, grasping for her brow. "Clod! What else?" She started dancing, kicking up cloud after cloud of sand.

She really needed to calm down, but then again, Pearl felt herself getting strangely… happy. They had a base. A place where they all could live without this awful planet glaring her down from all angles? "Well, how does it work?" She herself felt a massive grin growing on her face.

"Can I show you?" she asked. She didn't extend her hand, but instead started pacing frantically for the cave. She walking in a bit, looking to see if there was anything that she could use. "Here!" she shouted, her voice echoing against the walls. She waved her arms frantically again, this time at a small door-thing. On the centre of it were many small gems. Two of them were indistinct and shimmering like the normal crystals. The others looked exactly like Gemstones.

"Are they poofed?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Of course not." Peridot smirked and slipped her limb enhancers off. She walked up to the door and wiggled her brows at Pearl. "Watch and learn."

Pearl stepped in closer to see Peridot walk up to the door and stare directly at the green gemstone.

"Hnnnnnnnggggh." Peridot put her hands in front of her gem and clenched her teeth. She vibrated visibly from the focus, until the door started to shift. Metal plates seemed to form out of it, shifting until they shifted away and opened to reveal a place not unlike a spaceship's cockpit. Rows and rows of shelving lined the edges and in the centre was a huge sort of screen. After that, there were littered bags around a table beneath it. Small orange things were scattered on the floor.

"What's… that?" Pearl asked.

Peridot lost focus, but the door stayed open. She looked around until it seemed she trained on the orange things. "Just something the Amethyst showed me."

That made sense. It was definitely something Pearl had never seen.

"So how do the others work?" she asked.

Peridot shrugged. "Same way, I guess. I mean, all they had to do was focus until it opened. You shoulda seen Rose Quartz work it though."

Pearl nodded.

"Well, she got within like ten feet of it, and it opened flawlessly!"

That sounded a lot like Rose, that was for sure.

So how did they end up looking like Gemstones?

Peridot's face brightened before she ran to the door. Her leg enhancers were still on, and coupled with her lack of arm enhancers, it made for a very unbalanced gait. She stumbled against the door and grabbed one of the unformed crystals carefully. She ran back to Pearl and held it up to her.

It was almost oily and shone brightly in the shafts of sunlight making their way to the end of the cave. "What do I do with it?" she asked.

"Oh!" she said. She seemed to remember something so held it with only two fingers. "Well, you've got to rub your hands over it and then hold it against your gem for a bit. Then it becomes synced with your Gem and then you have your own room. I haven't figured out group rooms, but it's a work in progress!"

Pearl nodded. It was sensible enough, but given Peridot's previous views against her, it was clear that this could be a practical joke as well.

But who was watching? So she did it. Her skin crawled again with the feeling of its natural oils. Holding it to her Gem ended up being a struggle, because that's what she usually did when she wanted to store something in it. Eventually, it worked, and Pearl held it in front of her face.

The rough-shaped slab started turning smooth and circular. Then, it became small, as if shaving parts of it off. Soon, it was the exact perfect shape to fit in her hand. Wow.

"I know, right? Come on, put it in the door."

Alright. Pearl stepped over to it, her soft steps against the floor enough to cause echoes.

She inspected it. Where would she put it? The general pattern appeared to be in a star-shape. There were only a few spaces where she could put it that would fit the pattern. _What about the right corner, there?_ That looked right. So she put it there. Then, the gem's bottom liquified just enough to adhere to the door.

"Now try opening it!" Peridot said.

She was just a Pearl, would it even work? Why should it? Maybe she only had a Gem for decoration. She zoned out, the door blurring out in front of her. If she couldn't, she'd probably just sleep outside in the cave. She probably wouldn't open the door anyway. But harm was there in trying?

 _Open the door._

Lo and behold, it worked almost instantly. The door faded away to reveal a shield of water. Of course it wouldn't let her in. Even this Peridium hated her.

"Well, go into it!" Peridot prodded.

She turned back and looked down. Already her hands had reached for her veil. Peridot smiled proudly at the waterfall.

"Don't worry, Tiger's door was a stone wall. She just had to punch through it."

Oh. Pearl nodded and silently put her finger to the water. It slipped off her fingers, the thin sheet parting to reveal more water. Wow. It felt soothing, calming. Water hit water in there. Pearl dipped her head inside to take the sights.

A dull roar hit her ears, but it was pleasant. It blocked out other noises, even the now-chuckling Peridot. Wow. She stepped in further, holding her hand against the door's frame to keep herself stationary.

She stepped on smooth stone with shining stones embedded in it. In front of her, water fell down into a seemingly bottomless pit. She stepped in further, letting go of the frame. She looked back through the water-fall door to see the blurry shape of Peridot.

This was a completely secure space. This was _her_ completely secure space! She started running around.

She howled.

Her mind's worries fell away with the waterfall. This was _perfect!_

"Thank you!" she screamed at the ceiling, black with multicoloured lights, foggy from mist. She jumped up to the top of the waterfall. It was a perfect circle. Everything was in perfect order up here. Everything felt right.

When Rose had started this "rebellion," she lost her home.

Now, this seemed to fit the description pretty well.

AN: I feel like an awful person right now. I went to work at a camp for pretty much the entire summer and didn't have any time to write! I prolly should have told ye...


End file.
